Durban — Sentencing proceedings are to get under way on Tuesday (today) in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court against a man convicted of bashing his girlfriend’s head against a wall multiple times, killing her.
On Monday, Mxolisi Mvula, 30, was found guilty of the 2022 murder of Ntombikayise Phindile Mkhize.
In convicting Mvula, magistrate Mohamed Motala said that while the court approached the evidence of the single witness in the trial, it was important to note that the single witness’s evidence when it came to the injuries sustained was corroborated by the pathologist who examined Ntombikayise’s body.
“Nokwazi Mkhize, the sister of the deceased, was an exceptional witness. She said she knew of no medical history of abuse between the two or a protection order; however, the deceased had confided in her that she was in an abusive relationship.
“In October 2022, the deceased came home with visible injuries claiming abuse from the accused.
“The abuse went on until the day the deceased asked her sister to fetch her belongings from the accused’s house, this was a manifestation by the deceased that she wanted to leave the relationship. This, I deduced, must have angered the accused, her injuries point to this not being an isolated incident of abuse by the accused. The accused behaved in a completely abusive and domineering manner and it is unlikely that this was the first time.”
Mvula held Ntombikayise by the neck and bashed her head into the wall five to seven times until she fell to the ground and then he stomped on her head and face with his foot multiple times before fleeing Ntuzuma to Bergville, where he was arrested by police for the murder.
He had pleaded not guilty. His defence was that he and Ntombikayise got into an argument that became physical, and he had pulled her arm roughly and she hit her head on the wall.
“His evidence has numerous contradictions and imperfections which must be exposed by the court as outright lies … His version is contradicted by the State witness. His version is that when she threw the phone into the next room she tried to reach for it when he did too, and when he pulled her by the arm she hit her head against the wall. That’s just the accused trying to deflect from the fact that he bashed her head against the wall,” said State prosecutor Kaystree Ramsamujh in an address on the merits of the case ahead of judgment.
Speaking outside court, Ntombikayise’s mother, Buyile Mkhize, said she felt of sense of relief with Mvula having been found guilty.
“Now we await that today (Tuesday) he gets a sentence that fits his crime. Even though this will not bring my daughter back, it will bring me closure. He needs to be dealt a harsh sentence that will be a deterrence to other like-minded people, I hope that the sentence teaches people that no one is above the law, and those who break the law pay.”
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