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Man who set Banyana player’s sister alight, dies in police custody
In a shock twist, the attempted murder accused died in his police holding cell as his girlfriend is fighting for her life in hospital.
Lindiwe Zitha, the sister of former Banyana Banyana player Khabo Zitha (right), is in a coma after she sustained severe burn wounds during an attack at her Mamelodi home on 3 June. Photos: Twitter @ @XoliswaZondo and @thomasmlambo
The boyfriend of a Mamelodi woman who is fighting for her life after she was allegedly doused with petrol and set alight by the 55-year-old man, has died in police custody on Tuesday 6 June.
The 50-year-old Lindiwe Zitha sustained burn wounds all over her body during the cruel attack at her Mamelodi home on Saturday 3 June.
Burn victim in coma despite protection orders against boyfriend
The victim has been in a coma and on life-support since she was admitted to Life Wilgers Hospital, in Pretoria, over the weekend.
Lindiwe is the sister of former Banyana Banyana player Khabo Zitha. Acting as the family spokesperson, Khabo alleged that Lindiwe had already obtained two protection orders against her former boyfriend.
“No one in the family really knew the boyfriend, but we were told that he and my sister were dating for quite some time,” Khabo told Pretoria Rekord.
“He threatened to kill her on several occasions and sometimes forced her to sleep over and demanded money from her.”
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Suspect dies in police holding cell
Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed the death of the attempted murder accused, Eric Marakalala, on Wednesday 7 June.
“The suspect was found dead in police cells on Tuesday afternoon. Police have opened an inquest docket and a postmortem will be conducted to establish the cause of death,” Masondo said.
Marakalala is said to have suffered first degree burns on his neck, hands and other areas when he allegedly set Lindiwe alight.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspect complained “about pain” and an ambulance was dispatched to take him to Pretoria’s Mamelodi Hospital.
Marakalala, however, was declared dead by paramedics when they arrived at the police station.
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Man handed himself over to police
Pretoria Rekord reported that family members of the burn victim found Marakalala seeking help for his burn wounds at a local clinic on Sunday 4 June.
He managed to evade them and ran to Mamelodi East Police Station where he handed himself over to the police.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Marakalala made his first appearance in the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Horror night of flames
Khabo told TimesLIVE that the family reckons Lindiwe’s boyfriend took advantage of the darkness caused by load shedding on the night of the attack.
“It was during load shedding, so he took advantage of that because there was less movement on the street and it was dark. He stormed into the house and started hitting her. Then he put her head and face in a bucket filled with petrol which he poured all over her body before setting her alight in a bedroom,” she said.
He reportedly also tried to set cars outside the house alight before fleeing the scene.
Lindiwe was saved by a young man who called the neighbours to take her to hospital and help stop the fire from spreading to other rooms.
NMU student stabbed to death
In another incident possibly linked to gender-based violence (GBV), a 20-year-old female student from the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) George Campus was stabbed to death, allegedly by her boyfriend.
The victim, who has yet to be identified, was stabbed multiple times and died in an ambulance on campus at about 12:50 on Monday 6 June, according to Southern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Chris Spies.
“Preliminary reports available at this stage indicate that police were dispatched to the campus following reports of a violent incident.
“On arrival, the members found the victim inside an ambulance with multiple stab wounds to the body. She was declared dead by paramedics on scene. It is believed that the victim was attacked inside her bedroom on the campus,” said Spies.
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