A poor woman who never quarreled with anyone in the village was allegedly stabbed and killed by an unknown person while she was asleep last Sunday night. The incident occurred at Mpheni-Vhutuwangadzebu Village, outside Elim.

Ms Selinah Nakeng (56) was allegedly stabbed several times in the head. The incident stunned most of the residents, who knew Nakeng as a good person who never argued with anyone in the village.

Nakeng was staying in a three-roomed shack with her husband, Mr Wilson Tshikondela (69), and her four grandchildren. According to Tshikondela, he was sleeping in the same room with Nakeng. "I was fast asleep. The shack was locked, but the person who killed her broke the door and got inside. I didn´t hear anything at all. I only realized that something bad had happened to my wife when she started breathing in a strange way," he said.

He added that when he looked at her, he saw blood flowing from her neck. "We wanted to call an ambulance, but I realised that it was too late; she was already dead. This is very bad and she was not supposed to have died like this," said Tshikondela.

The family only depend on their pension grants for a living. According to Tshikondela, the family does not even have money to bury his wife.

The spokesperson for the Waterval police, W/O Kedibone Mabatha confirmed the incident, adding that a murder case had been opened.