Durban - A 30-year-old Verulam mother of two was stabbed 24 times at her home on Friday night in front of her young daughter, allegedly by her estranged husband.
He is allegedly on the run.
According to the victim’s sister, the woman was stabbed all over her body, including her hands, legs, stomach and back.
“He apparently forcefully entered the house and assaulted and stabbed her. She has over 100 stitches. My sister is recovering in hospital but she is traumatised and in pain.”
She added that the man had visited her sibling’s home that day and was later asked to leave.
But he had allegedly returned that evening and broken into the house by forcefully removing the burglar guard gate.
Suren Balram, head of the private security company Trans Natal Flying Squad, said the suspect allegedly banged the woman’s head against the tiled wall in the bathroom before stabbing her a number of times.
He said their 6-year-old daughter, who was asleep, heard the screams and woke up. She began screaming when she saw her mother being attacked.
Balram said the couple’s 1-year-old child was asleep at the time.
“The (older) child distracted the man and this gave her an opportunity to run out of the house and alert neighbours. During this time the man escaped,” said Balram.
He said that when he arrived at the scene the woman’s father was distraught as he feared his daughter would die.
According to Balram, besides the stab wounds, the woman sustained a fractured skull.
The suspect’s father told POST that his daughter-in-law had called him on Friday to tell him they were having a problem.
“But I said I did not want to get involved.”
He said that evening a neighbour came to his home to drop off the two children, who are currently living with him.
“The big child is emotionally troubled and my wife and I are highly stressed. We have visited the children’s mother in hospital and we hope she gets better quickly.”
He said he did not know where his son was.
“But I don’t want him to come to my home. I have informed his friends that if they see him, they must tell him to turn himself in to the police or there will be a bigger problem down the line. He could get a harsher sentence.”
Police spokesman Major Shooz Magudulela confirmed the incident.
He said a case of attempted murder had been opened and no arrest had been made.
POST