Cape Town - A Cape Flats woman was nearly beaten to death, allegedly by her boyfriend, while she was sleeping in her bed.
The 52-year-old woman from Eerste River had her head split open from ear to ear after her berk of four months allegedly lost it and attacked her with a spade.
Vicky Bauer had broken up with Jonathan John Overmeyer on October 26.
The next night, while she lay sleeping in her bed, he allegedly entered her home without her permission, and brutally beat her up.
One of the blows to the top of her head cracked her skull and split her scalp, while the connective tissue behind her eyes tore, causing her eyes to hang out of their sockets.
Overmeyer has been on the run since then.
Jonathan Overmeyer. Picture: Supplied
Nearly a month after the attack, Vicky’s face and body are still covered in bruises and cuts, and relatives and friends say the traumatised woman does not speak about what happened.
According to them, the 49-year-old suspect is a fumigator, and told various people that he is from Hanover Park, Valhalla Park, Atlantis and Ocean View.
A family member says they were shocked when they saw how badly Bauer was injured.
“Her head was split open from ear to ear, she was awake, but she looked so broken and swollen, and her eyes were bulging out of her head. She did not speak much and at first could not remember what had happened,” says the concerned woman.
Bauer has had an operation to have her cracked skull closed up and has stitches right across her head.
“We don’t know how bad her injuries are yet and I don’t know if it has affected her mental state. She speaks very little and mostly keeps to herself,” she says.
She says police have failed all women by not arresting Overmeyer, especially with the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and Children campaign kicking off on Sunday.
“We want the monster who did this caught, before he does it to someone else,” the family member says.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirms a case of attempted murder, registered at Kleinvlei SAPS, is under investigation and no arrests have been made.