No justice, says abused woman

Beaten, throttled and fearing for her life after a series of alleged acts of abuse at the hands of her estranged husband, a Pretoria woman feels let down by the country’s justice system as her pleas for help seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Julia Khumalo said her husband of seven years had instilled fear in her. She had been reporting the abuse to police, but nothing was being done about the cases, she said.

On April 10, her husband assaulted and throttled her until she fainted, Khumalo said.

She opened a case of assault at the Akasia police station, but “he was never arrested and he is still roaming the streets”.

Khumalo said her husband also followed her and on May 16, he waited for her as she was making her way to work and attacked her.

“He waited for me when I was about to (get) a taxi to work and assaulted me.

“He wanted to force me into his car, but luckily residents raised the alarm and the police came.”

Khumalo again opened a case of assault, but this time at the Rietgat police station.

However, still no action was taken and the man allegedly continued to send her SMSes boasting that he was not arrested.

Fearing for her life, she approached the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court for a protection order.

“(After) the assault, I applied for a protection order, but this interim order has still not been made final for reasons only known by the magistrate in Pretoria North.

“Because my husband sees that the law is failing me, he has the guts to call me as he pleases and threatening me and sending me threatening SMSes,” she said.

Khumalo said the man told her that he was well connected and knew people in the justice system.

Last week Khumalo found herself having to spend a night behind bars after her husband had allegedly assaulted her.

She said he went to her place of work on Wednesday to verbally abuse and assault her.

“The security guard at our premises realised what was happening and contacted the police.

“I laid a charge of assault against him, but the following day as I was walking to catch a taxi from work he came behind me and informed me that police were looking for me.

“I went to Rietgat police station to find out what was happening and they informed me that he had laid a charge of assault against me and they locked me up.”

Khumalo said she was informed that she had contravened a protection order which her husband had obtained against her.

She could not understand how it came about that she had contravened it while she was the one being followed.

Khumalo said she had also tried to divorce her husband but had not succeeded with that.

“He keeps telling me that he is connected and knows the justice system. I instituted divorce proceedings, but they have not gone anywhere. And he calls me and tells me that no magistrate or prosecutor will process the divorce.

“He is very violent and I am scared of him,” she said.

Khumalo said she feared her husband would end up killing her.

“For my son’s sake and for the sake of other women I need help,” she pleaded.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said police were looking into the matter and investigations were at an advanced stage.

Ndou said the husband “was arrested, and released by the court, and an instruction was issued that the complainant must apply for a protection order”.

The protection order was still an interim one and both the wife and husband were to appear in court soon for the wife to give reasons as to why it must be made a permanent order with a warrant of arrest, said Ndou.

Now that an interim protection order had been issued, the docket was back in court for a decision.

“The investigator is aware of the second case opened at Rietgat and is liaising with that station to have a joint investigation of the two cases,” said Ndou.

Pretoria News