Cape Town - A young Philippi woman accused of stabbing her attacker to death has been released on R500 bail by the Athlone Magistrate’s Court after handing herself over to police.
Shakira Samodien, 19, said her cousin’s partner beat her up during a heated argument on Sunday afternoon. She said she was traumatised by the attack, which left her with multiple injuries.
Speaking soon after being released from the holding cells, the woman said she did not mean to kill Mark Cloete, 35, but was scared he would kill her.
“It was after 3pm on Sunday and I was walking with my friends in Jabula (Informal Settlement) when they told me to go into the shop to buy Snappers.
“He is my cousin’s boyfriend and we don’t really talk but then he just asked me if I am also walking with ‘these n***ers’. That is when the argument started and he started swearing my mother and father for no reason and I responded.
“I don’t know if he was drunk but he started hitting me over and over and bashed my head against the wall. I had a knife that was my friend’s and he was strangling me.
“I took out the knife and stabbed him to get away. I didn’t mean to kill him, I was fighting for my own life,” Samodien said.
She said after escaping she called her father who took her to Hanover Park Hospital where doctors noted injuries on her head, neck, arms and legs.
“When I got home on Sunday night I heard Mark died and I could not sleep. The next morning I went to the police station and told them I was the suspect. They said I would have to stay in the cells overnight and I agreed.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed the arrest.
“Philippi police confirm that a 19-year-old female handed herself over at the station and has been charged with murder. Investigations continue.”
On Tuesday Samodien made her first appearance in court. She was released on R500 bail and told to be back in court on February 21.
Cloete’s nephew, who said he witnessed the attack, said Cloete did not assault Samsodien although there was a verbal altercation.
The 22-year-old said he accompanied his uncle to a shop and heard the two argue inside the shop.
“I didn’t know what it was about. She was rude. I was drinking and he only had one beer.”
He said Cloete tried to walk home but collapsed in the street and was “further attacked by Shakira’s family”. Samsodien’s family have denied this, saying they rushed the injured teen to hospital.
Cloete’s partner, Candice Southgate, 35, said the father of two was not violent.
