MBOMBELA – TUT students who reside at the Urban Cove residence in town were left in shock after a male student, who was celebrating his last year at the university, stabbed his girlfriend and turned the knife on himself before attempting to jump off a balcony.
The 25-year-old tourism student from Dwarsloop, hosted a party last Saturday night to celebrate his last year at the university.
According to students residing at Urban Cove, he is a quiet and humble person who was rarely associated with any kind of mischief.
On that fateful night, he decided to invite his girlfriend and friends for a celebration.
The party ended just after midnight and he was left alone with his 21-year-girlfriend from Ka-Daantjie.
“It was about 01:30 when we heard the screams of a female. At first a lot of us didn’t take it seriously because it immediately went quiet after that. But the screams resumed and that’s when a lot of students and the security guards went to investigate the female domain, but they couldn’t find anything there. It was then that the search moved to the male section. The room was found but it was locked,” said one of the students.
The group of students and security guards banged on the door until a wounded female opened it and fell to the ground in front of them.
When they gained entry, the boyfriend ran to the balcony of his third-floor room and jumped off.
“The girl was covered in blood. There was blood all over the room. Her boyfriend went to the balcony and attempted to jump off. Other students and the security guards caught him by the legs before he fell. It was scary and everyone was traumatised,” related the students.
Police have revealed that the young man allegedly stabbed his girlfriend after a heated argument erupted between them. “During the altercation, the man allegedly produced a knife and stabbed his girlfriend more than once.
He then allegedly turned the knife on himself in an attempt to commit suicide,” said Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson, Brig Leonard Hlathi.
Both were taken to hospital.
Party ends in horror for TUT lovebirds
The woman was discharged on Monday. The man remains in hospital under police guard, and is expected to appear in court on a charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm as soon as he is discharged.
Students at the residence are still contemplating the motive behind the stabbing.
“We are still wondering among ourselves what led the quiet guy to commit such a horrifying act. It is way out of his character and when we usually saw them together, they looked happy.
“It’s sad because he was happy about his achievement and had so much hope for his future. He was in the process of finishing his practicals and expected to graduate next year. We don’t know what went wrong, but it left all of us shaken,” concluded the students.
TUT spokesperson, Ms Willa du Reyter, said, “We are not yet in a position to comment as we are still investigating the incident. As soon as we have all the information we will issue a formal statement,” she said.
