Jaco Swart, who was convicted of assaulting his wife Nicoleen Swart, claimed that he was assaulted by a group of men last week.

According to an article by News24, Swart informed his lawyer Enoch Nethanani that the assault took place last week Thursday.

The publication reports that Swart told Nethanani that the group of assailants put him in the boot of a car after beating him up.

Swart told Nethanani he was hit over the head, taken to another location in the boot of the car, removed from the car and kicked.

“I remember them saying they are going to break my hands or cut off my hands because I hit women.

“I didn’t know where I was, and then they opened the boot and threw me out, so I don’t know how they got to me,” Swart said in a voice note.

Also read: Nicoleen Swart’s convicted abuser might still be jailed, says AfriForum

Swart kicked and punched his wife multiple times on footage captured by CCTV cameras at the couple’s business in 2018.

On June 7, Swart appeared in the Pretoria North magistrate’s court where he was fined R20 000 and given a three-year prison sentence, suspended for five years.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, led by Gerrie Nel, supported Nicoleen in this case and labelled the verdict as “shockingly inappropriate”.

“While I’m disappointed at the sentence imposed by the court, I am pleased with the guilty verdict. It sends a strong message to women that they must speak out against gender-based violence, and there is always an ear willing to listen,” said Nicoleen after the proceedings.

Speaking to News24, Nethanani said that Jaco had received numerous “threatening messages” since the incident, which has since caused a massive outcry on social media, was made public.

Swart did not open a case regarding the assault as he has “lost faith in the Sinoville police station”.

Nethanani said Swart would not open a case because “he doesn’t even know who these people are”.

“For now, he is just recovering,” said Nethanani.

“The public should know that my client is serving a sentence; nobody has a right to assault or kill him or make inflammatory statements.”