A man who allegedly became jealous after he suspected that his lover was cheating on him, allegedly chopped off her hand and hid it behind a television set on Sunday.

The man, who lives at Tshilungoma outside Thohoyandou with his lover and works at a local brick-making company, has been with her for more than 14 years. Everything seemed to be going well until recently, when the man started accusing the women of infidelity. The last straw came on Sunday when he chopped her hand off.

After the incident, he was attacked by angry residents who nearly killed him, beating him with any object they could lay their hands on. According to a police report, he lay unconscious for some time, with angry women trying to prevent the staff of the medical services to assist him or to take him to the hospital. It was said that some of the women shouted that the man should be left to die, "as he is not fit to live with human beings."

Ms Tiny Mudau (40), a friend of the injured woman, said that she went to the house at around 10:00 in the morning. “I heard my friend crying for help, and when I entered the house, I found her in pain with her hand cut off. It was a threatening situation, with the hand lying there and the man still holding the panga, trying to chop her on the head," she added.

"Although shocked, I managed to gain strength and sought help, and she was taken to the hospital. I am so traumatized by what I have seen. Imagine seeing a hand lying on the floor with a man standing there, holding a panga and trying to kill his wife. I am still in shock and this has made not eat for two days,” she said.

She said that the injured woman was poor and was fending for her three children, managing to send them all to school on her meagre salary. She further said it was quite shocking to learn that the man had taken the panga to his work place where he sharpened it, but the wife did not suspect anything as he used to help her with firewood in the veld.

Munna Ndi Nnyi Men’s Forum chairperson Mr Bardwell Mufunwaini expressed shock after hearing of the incident. “We are going all out in trying to teach men how they should conduct themselves in life, but it seems everything falls on deaf ears. Men are still accused of abuse and attacks that include the killing of women and children, but they are supposed to be the protectors of these defenceless people. They are now the monsters in the families,” he said

Thohoyandou police spokesperson Major Mashudu Malelo confirmed the arrest of a man. “Yes I can confirm that we arrested a man, Freddy Mbedzi (47), and we charged him with attempted murder. He appeared in court on Monday and he remains in custody after being treated and discharged from the local hospital.

His case was postponed to 23 October (today). "The woman is recuperating in hospital,” he said.