A Grahamstown woman died after being beaten by her partner in the early hours of Tuesday morning 4 August. The woman's three young children were in the house at the time.
A Grahamstown woman died after being beaten by her partner in the early hours of Tuesday morning 4 August. The woman's three young children were in the house at the time.
A neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had heard knocking next door, late on Monday night. The houses are in Extension 8, Joza.
The woman, in her 30s, shared the two-roomed RDP house next door with her partner and three children – eight-year-old twins and her six-year-old daughter, the neighbour said.
She had just come home and was knocking on her own door. Her partner was already at home.
Later, the neighbour said, the woman, came and knocked on his door.
"She was crying and we asked her what had happened. "While she was trying to explain, her partner came in and dragged her away.
"He was beating her with his bare hands," said the neighbour.
"We tried to intervene and stop the fight, but he dragged her into their house."
The woman's sister came on Tuesday morning to drop something off, the neighbour said, not knowing there had been a fight.
"That was when she discovered her sister was dead," said the neighbour.
Her partner later told family members he didn't know she had died. This was despite the fact that they had shared a bed after the fight. The sister called the police and an ambulance.
Paramedics confirmed that the woman was dead. A family member said that, when the man was in the police van, she asked him why he'd killed the woman.
"The man said he didn't know he had beaten her to death," the woman, a member of the victim's extended family, said.
The dead woman's mother and sisters wept uncontrollably when police forensic unit staff carried her body out of the house.
Frank Khakhane, who attends the same church as the dead woman was shocked.
"I couldn't believe it when I was told that the woman was killed. My concern is how can the neighbour not hear when a person is crying for help? That confused me a lot," said Khakhane.
Grahamstown police spokesperson, Captain Mali Govender, confirmed the incident and said a suspect had been arrested.
"That death happened in the early hours of Tuesday 4 August in Extension 8," Govender said.
"According to information that was received, the victim who was in a relationship with the suspect was involved in an altercation the previous evening.
"The following morning a sister of the victim tried to wake her up, but couldn't. Police and ambulances were called and it was discovered that the victim had passed away.
"The victim had injuries to her upper body. A post mortem will be held to establish the cause of death. The suspect was arrested and a murder case was opened," said Govender.
