Cape Town man who brutally assaulted estranged wife for three days and made her eat her own flesh, loses life sentence appeal

A man who brutally assaulted and raped his estranged wife over a terrifying three-day ordeal has had his appeal for a lesser sentence rejected by the Cape Town High Court.

In November 2022, the father, who has two daughters with his estranged wife, was sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder, alongside a life sentence for rape and sexual assault. 

The couple’s tumultuous relationship began with marriage in 2014 but deteriorated by 2017, plagued by mutual drug abuse and incidents of domestic violence.

Sometime in 2019, the wife attended a Christian-based recovery and rehabilitation centre due to her abuse of drugs, specifically Tik. Her children were left with their father but eventually moved to live with their maternal grandfather.

In October 2019, she left the rehabilitation centre and sought accommodation with her father, but he was not prepared to accommodate her due to her history of drug use. She then went to her husband's house in Belhar where she sought accommodation on a temporary basis.

The couple had no desire to revive their fractured marriage; however, the husband was willing to help her while she searched for work. After a week spent together without incident, she mentioned her intention to return to Ceres to be with her current partner and seek employment there.

One afternoon, the husband, who operates a driving school, came home from work empty-handed—no food and no sneakers, the very ones she had requested. She could see that something was off; his demeanor had shifted, and he seemed deeply detached, as if under the influence of drugs.

This is when her horrific ordeal began; he went on a three-day torrid campaign of beating her with the cricket bat all over her body, tormented her with false accusations, bashed her head against the floor, and repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her.

Sometimes the rape would take place while she was unconscious. During one of the beatings, her head was cut open and pieces of flesh came out, and he forced her to eat them.

She begged him to take her to the clinic, and he assured her he would, but only after dark when it would be less crowded. In a moment of desperation, she vowed to him that she would claim her injuries were the result of a car accident, ensuring he would not be implicated in any way.

However, he didn’t fulfill his promise to take her to the clinic and also turned down her request for painkillers.

Every time he headed out for work, he would lock her inside the house, leaving her without food. On one occasion, he even mentioned that he intended to find a spot to bury her, ensuring she would never be discovered by her family.

One time when he left, she discovered that he had not locked the bedroom door from the outside and she realised this was her chance to escape.

Feeling weak, she pushed herself up, gripping the cupboards and walls for support. Slowly, she made her way to the window and shouted for help to a neighbour. With trembling hands, she revealed her injuries and urgently disclosed that her husband was trying to kill her.

The neighbour dismissed her and said she doesn't have a phone and prefers not to get involved in the couple's disputes.

In a desperate attempt, she managed to flag down a young girl on her way to school and the child alerted her mother who then called Belhar police station. However, police claimed that they were too busy as they were attending a shooting in the area.

With little help, the woman found her way to safety through a back door and ran into the street, where she unexpectedly encountered her husband's sister. Seeing her in distress, the sister quickly provided her with fresh clothes and gently tended to her injured face. Together, they headed to the home of a neighbour who had previously turned her away, where they contacted her father. Soon after, they made their way to the Belhar police station.

After waiting at the police station for nearly two hours with no help, a nurse who happened to be there recognised the seriousness of her medical situation. She quickly alerted the officers and insisted that they take her to the hospital right away.

The woman was assisted by a detective from the Delft police station and rushed her to Karl Bremer Hospital.

Later that day, the husband came to see his wife, pleaded with her to keep silent about the assault. In response, she raised her voice in anger, causing him to flee the hospital.

According to court documents, her situation was critical and posed a serious risk to her life. She happened to hear a doctor telling her father that she might not make it through the night, and that her survival would be nothing less than miraculous. Against the odds, she pulled through and spent two weeks in the hospital before being released.

After leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, she moved in with her cousin, who took care of her during her recovery. She had to relearn how to speak, and due to serious injuries to both her leg and hand, attending physical therapy became a necessary part of her healing journey.

As a result of her injuries, she could no longer work and ultimately found herself living on the streets. Unfortunately, she fell back into drug use. During the sentencing phase of her husband's trial, an investigating officer, aiming to acquire a victim impact statement, tracked her down to the Pollsmoor Correctional Facility, where she was being held as an awaiting trial detainee.

After he was sentenced, the husband tried to appeal the sentence at the Regional Magistrate Court where his application was dismissed, and he sought petition at the High Court.

When looking at the evidence, two judges, Judge Mas-udah Pangarker and Judge Vincent Saldanha were shocked at the horrific nature of abuse inflicted by the husband. 

"The actions of the appellant (husband) displayed no regard for the life of his wife, her bodily integrity, dignity and privacy. He brought and used drugs in the house despite the complainant's efforts at rehabilitation, then proceeded to exert both physical and harsh control over her through repeated assaults with a cricket bat, forced her to eat her own flesh, drink soiled bath water and then sexually violated her person multiple times.

"He left his wife to die and very crudely said to her that he intended to find a hole to bury her in. His pathetic excuse as to why he failed to take her to hospital or a clinic, as she begged him to do more than once, was indicative of his callous disregard for her life and safety," said the judges.

The judges held that the husband failed to express any regret for his conduct, but he only admitted to assaulting the wife because of the overwhelming evidence against him.

The judges said they were satisfied with the sentence imposed by the lower court and the subsequent denial for an appeal.

The judges also ordered the current station commander at Belhar police station to investigate the circumstances and reasons why the woman was not promptly assisted when she sought help even after she went to the police station.

"The station commander is requested to provide a written report on the outcome of such investigation to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)," said the judges.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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