Young woman stabbed to death

In yet another incident of seemingly senseless violence, a 25-year-old man allegedly stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend to death. The murder happened at Tshikhwarani village in Ha-Kutama on Monday.

Mpho Mathabwe was allegedly stabbed numerous times all over her body. According to the police report, Mathabwe had just broken up with her boyfriend, who seemingly refused to admit that the girl no longer wanted him in her life. The deceased was a Grade 10 pupil at Tshiungulela Secondary School.

The spokesperson for the Tshilwavhusiku police, Const Munyadziwa Marindi, said Miss Mathabwe died at the scene of the incident. "According to our preliminary investigation, the suspect dragged Miss Mathabwe to his home, where he allegedly stabbed her several times all over her body," said Marindi. She added that the police had opened a case of murder.

The suspect then allegedly ran away, but the police managed to arrest him on Tuesday at Shayandima. At the time of our going to press, he was still to appear in court.

"It appeared that the two had differences which led them to quarrel before the incident," a family member said.

Mathabwe's aunt, Ms Nurse Gabara, said that when the police arrived, the door was still locked. They had to break open the door, only to find Mathabwe´s lifeless body next to the door. "We discovered a panga lying next to Mathabwe´s body," she said. Gabara said that the family was unable to accept the loss. "It is really painful. She was still young and did not deserve to die like that," she said.

"I want to see justice done. Mathabwe was very focused on education, and I expected her to complete her studies, so that she could help the family," she added.

The deceased´s father, Mr Thomas Mathabwe, said that the family members were still shocked and very disturbed about Mpho´s death. "She was still young and the family was still expecting a lot from her," he said. Thomas added that the family would love to see the law take its course. "We want to see a severe punishment. The accused has to pay for what he has done. He must rot in jail where he belongs," he emphasized.

Several killings of this nature had been reported in the Tshilwavhusiku area in the past months. Marindi is now calling upon all people who might be having marital or relationship problems to consult the social workers for counselling, rather than resorting to killing each other.

News - Date: 11 April 2014

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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