A family in Ezingolweni (a town in the Ugu District in KZN) is living in fear of what will happen next, after an 18-year-old girl from the family, was set alight with petrol, allegedly by a man from the area.

According to the victim’s grandmother, the man used to follow the girl around on her way from school and wherever he met her, she used to report it to the family.

“On April 18, the day of the incident my granddaughter left in the morning for school, however, she ended up at her friend’s house. In the afternoon when she left, she met up with the man on the way. He forcefully took her to his house where he was with another man known to him. He chased the man out and locked my granddaughter inside the room, where he physically assaulted and burnt her with petrol,” she said.

The grandmother added she is unsure of whether they were in a relationship or not, however, it was not the first time she had gone to his house and did not come home.

She added that the day her granddaughter did not return home, they were unsure of where she was, until someone came to their home to notify them that she had been admitted to hospital, suffering serious burn wounds.

“My daughter, who is the girl’s aunt, rushed to Murchison Hospital to see what had happened. When they arrived, they found that the man’s vehicle was parked outside. They went in and police were in the ward with nurses and doctors investigating what had happened. The aunt was told that the girl seemed scared to say what had happened as the man was also in the room. He told the nurses that my granddaughter burnt herself.

“The aunt said the doctors requested the man to step outside and that was when they found out what had happened. The man was then arrested. My granddaughter is burnt badly. She said to survive the burns, she remembered what she had learned in school that when your body catches fire you should roll yourself on the ground, however, since she was locked inside a room with a cement floor it did not help.

“She said she begged the man to open the door and that she did not want to die. She even had to lie to him and tell him that she will tell the police that she had burnt herself just for him to let her out. When she got out, she jumped into a drum of water and that is how she was able to save her life,” the grandmother explains.

She said what hurts her the most is that her granddaughter is orphaned. “Her mother is dead, she was shot and killed and now this incident is heart-breaking, it opens up the wounds of how her mother lost her life.”

“We are now living in fear. For me as a grandmother, it’s even more scary to go and see my granddaughter in the condition that she is in. She is fighting for her life.”

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the man’s arrest, stating that he appeared in court recently.

“Ezinqoleni police is investigating a case of attempted murder,” said Netshiunda.

The grandmother added she went to court and the man was denied bail and will be in police custody until his next appearance on Friday.

“As the family we want the law to take its course, we want justice for my granddaughter. She is only in Gr 10 and we do not know whether she will be able to continue with her life after such a bad thing has happened to her. We are scared that if the perpetrator gets bail, he will come for her and us. We are hoping that he is arrested and rots in jail,” the grandmother added.