The 35-year-old man who murdered his wife by setting her alight at Madodonga Village on New Year’s Eve last year, was sentenced to 15 years´ imprisonment.

Christopher Makatu appeared in the Tshilwavhusiku Regional Court on Thursday 21 July. He was accused of pouring paraffin over Nency Ramatsilela (32) before setting her alight. It all happened after the two had had an argument on their way home from a local tavern, where they had just celebrated the beginning of a new year.

When they arrived home, the argument escalated to the extent that they started to hit each other. It was testified that Makatu had always been swearing and threatening his wife that he would burn their house down. He then poured paraffin over his wife’s body and burned her. The incident happened shortly after 03:00.

Ramatsilela managed to escape through the window and run to the neighbours for help. The neighbours took her to the Tshilwavusiku Health Centre, and she was later transfered to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital. She died, however, after two days in hospital.

Members of the community said that they were happy with the sentence. "This will serve as a lesson to other abusive men in the community," they said.