MAN STABS WOMAN, LEAVES HER DISABLED

MBABANE – “All I want is justice”.

These are the words of Khetsiwe Dlamini, a 39-year-old woman who has a disability after she was attacked by someone she knows. The name of the alleged attacker will not be mentioned for now as according to Dlamini, he has not been arrested. About eight years ago, a few months after giving birth, Dlamini had a disagreement with *Joko. She said they had been at loggerheads for several months. She narrated a harrowing account of survival when in December 2016, Joko allegedly attacked her, inside a room she rented while living around Matsapha. Dlamini, who was 32 at the time, said she nearly lost her life as the alleged attacker had left her for dead. According to Dla

Approached

Dlamini alleged that when Joko approached her room, the man he was with remained outside, while he entered. She said they began to argue over something which would not be mentioned for now as this could expose Joko’s identity.In fact, the nature of the relationship between the survivor and the alleged assailant cannot be disclosed. Any disclosure of the nature of the relationship has a potential to expose the name of the person who has been reported to the police.

Charges

However, his name will be published upon arrest by the police and subsequent preferring of charges by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).She told Eswatini News that he produced a sharp object when he entered her house in Matsapha and stabbed her in the back and other parts of the body. She said she was also hacked in the head such that her skull was fractured according to the doctor’s report. During the time of the attack, she was carrying a baby on her back.  After the alleged assault, he and the other man fled the scene, leaving Dlamini for dead. Her screams alerted some of her neighbours, including the landlord, whom she said assisted in removing the one-year-old baby she was carrying from her back.

Weak

“I felt like I would die,” she said. At that time, she said she began to feel weak because she was bleeding profusely. She narrated that her landlord was fortunately nearby as she came to take the baby off her back.Speaking about the ordeal, Dlamini said she was rushed to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital in Manzini. The incident is said to have happened on December 2, 2016. Due to the fact that she was in a critical condition, she was transferred to the Mbabane Government Hospital. She was not able to move because of the injuries.  
Dlamini said she reported the case to the police at Sigodvweni, in Matsapha.

Regardless of her report at the police station where she recorded a statement, she said the man was not arrested. She said police asked her if she had any witnesses.  “I told them that my landlord was present when the incident occurred, but they said they needed two witnesses,” she alleged. She said it has now been eight years since the incident occurred. Dlamini said she has been to the police to insist on the arrest of the person who assaulted her, but nothing has been done to this man.

Disability

Dlamini said the incident left her crippled, as she can no longer stand or walk without using a crutch. She said she now has a disability because of the injuries she sustained during the attack. She has not given up on believing that the man who attacked her would be behind bars - someday. Noteworthy, Dlamini’s case is one of the many gender-based-violence (GBV) cases in which survivors claim they had not received any justice, despite the fact that they reported the cases to the police. Dlamini’s case is unfortunately not an isolated incident.
It must be said that GBV has been a growing concern in Eswatini. It now ranks among the highest in the world. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Eswatini has one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence globally.  A 2020 report by the Ministry of Health indicated that approximately one in three women in Eswatini experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.

Violence

A 2017 study conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) ranked Eswatini as one of the top five countries with the highest rates of intimate partner violence globally.
The study revealed that over 48 per cent of women in Eswatini had experienced physical violence from a partner at least once in their lifetime. By comparison, the global average was 27 per cent. GBV cases, including domestic violence, sexual assaults and even murder, are tragically common in the country. While the police sometimes arrest culprits who commit the crimes, many of them pay the fines to get out of jail and continue with the violence.
*Not real name.

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