Woman relives horror of acid attack

Published Jul 29, 2015

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Johannesburg - Joburg magistrate Albertus Roux winced visibly as acid burn victim Ines Antonio described how her right breast was completely eaten away by battery acid which was thrown over her, allegedly by a former boyfriend, in November last year.

Antonio, 24, was allegedly attacked by 45-year-old Jan Pieterse after she refused to take him back after an on-off three-year relationship which was fraught with abuse.

Pieterse on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to two attempts of murder against Antonio and their four-year-old daughter, saying he acted in self-defence after she attacked him following an argument.

The slightly built Antonio, who on Tuesday spent the entire day giving evidence, was battling on the witness stand, testifying through tears when she was asked to describe in detail a series of photos of her taken during the various stages of her recovery.

When a photo of her mutilated breasts was shown, where one breast was completely destroyed, she was unable to speak. The magistrate, seeing her distress, then asked her to simply identify herself in the remaining photos.

Antonio detailed the years of abuse, which started when she was just two months pregnant with their child. She said the abuse had escalated over the three-year relationship. She had even seen a psychologist and counsellor with Pieterse to try to mend the relationship.

When Roux asked her why she stayed in the relationship, she replied that she felt sorry for him, and he kept promising to change.

Pieterse sat stone-faced during her testimony, showing no emotion, even when photos were shown. He constantly smiled, often shaking his head.

It was 10 months after she finally separated from him that the attack took place. In those months, he continued bombarding her with text messages, threatening to throw acid at her and to kill her. Antonio produced proof of the text and WhatsApp messages.

On the day of the incident, she and her daughter were walking to the shops in Sydenham, where she was living, when he approached them in his car.

He told her he had a cellphone in his boot for his daughter. He took the child and “threw” her onto the back seat of his car.

When Antonio went to grab the child, he went to the boot, took out a container and threw acid over her.

She described the feeling when the liquid hit her as her “body and clothes on fire”.

“I ran to get help from my landlady, then ran back to get my child. A few minutes later I was unable to speak because I swallowed some of the acid during the attack which burnt my throat. From then on, I remember nothing as I passed out, waking up in hospital a few days later,” she said.

Antonio was moved to tears again as she brought out a tiny pink jumper belonging to her daughter, who sustained minor burns to an arm when Antonio threw her behind her back to protect her. The garment had burn holes from the acid.

Antonio, who has undergone two skin grafts, appeared in court wearing a black plastic medical mask around her face to help her recovery.

Pieterse, who was declared mentally fit to stand trial, stated that he acted in self-defence.

He claimed that all he wanted to do was give the child a cellphone. He said he was sitting on the edge of his open boot when Antonio came towards him, trying to attack him. He claims he reached out for the closest object in his boot, a coffee tin filled with drain acid, and threw it at her in self-defence.

The trial continues on Wednesday.

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The Star

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