Karabo Mokoena’s friend says she witnessed accused boyfriend being violent
Puleng Mthethwa says 'they were a loving couple until I saw incidents happen'.
A friend of Karabo Mokoena, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Sandile Mantsoe, told the court during his trial on Tuesday that she had witnessed violent incidents between the couple.
Mantsoe faces charges of last year killing Mokoena, aged 22, burning her body and dumping it in a veld.
Mokoena’s friend Puleng Mthethwa said she had last seen her alive on March 19, 2017, in Soweto. Mokoena and Mantsoe were sitting across from her, and she went to say hello.
“Sandile grabbed my arm and said, why am I not greeting him first as the head of their household? I then took Karabo [away] and later took her back to Sandile,” said Mthethwa, adding that at one point during the relationship, she spent time with the couple every weekend.
“In the beginning, they were a loving couple until I saw incidents happen,” said Mthethwa, who had known Mokoena since 2014 and Mantsoe from 2016.
“The first incident was when Sandile smashed her phone when Karabo refused to let him put his fingerprint on her iPhone. We had just returned from dropping off a friend at the airport, and Sandile said he would count to 10, and if she didn’t give him the phone, he would smash it.”
In the second incident, Mokoena asked Mantsoe whether he would pay for the damaged phone, and he said no, held her by the neck and pushed her against the wall, saying he felt she had disrespected him.
Mthethwa said in another encounter at Mantsoe’s residence, she was watching TV when she heard an altercation and saw Mantsoe holding a naked Mokoena against the door before throwing her across a glass table.
Mantsoe said he would drop Mokoena off at home, but her friend later told her she had been abandoned on the highway, Mthethwa said.
While Mthethwa testified, Mantsoe lifted his hand and asked the court for permission to speak to his lawyer, advocate Victor Simelani.
The hearing adjourned for lunch.
– African News Agency (ANA)
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