Attacker Tolly Sibusiso Mnisi was handed a life sentence when he stood trial at court (pictured) (Picture: Google Maps)
WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAIL.
A man who murdered his girlfriend subjected her to torturous assaults and rape before trying to hide her body under his bed.
Tolly Sibusiso Mnisi, 37, attacked Nokuthula Sidu, 34, on July 3, 2021, after she visited him at his home in the South African town of Ermelo, Mpumalanga.
During the assault, Mnisi used his fists and a mop handle – so violently that it broke.
He raped her and then left her lying under his bed, only realising she had stopped breathing the next morning, Ermelo Magistrate’s Court heard.
Mnisi tried to hide what had happened by taking the couple’s two-year-old child to Nokuthula’s family and telling them he did not know where she was.
But Nokuthula’s brother discovered his sister was dead two days later and called the police.
The court was told that a postmortem report showed vaginal injuries and blunt trauma injuries to the head.
The police station in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, South Africa (Picture: Google Maps)
Mnisi admitted assaulting his victim with a mop but denied murder and rape.
Nevertheless, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for premeditated murder and was handed an additional 20-year term for rape last month.
Prosecutor Chan Rothman reportedly used the case to highlight the prevalence of gender-based violence in South Africa.
The country has been called the ‘rape capital of the world’ several times, including in recent research published in the South African Family Practice (SAFP) in March.
Figures cited in the scientific journal show that 10, 818 rape cases were reported in the first quarter of 2022 – but under-reporting means these numbers are likely much higher in reality.
Data from the South African Police Service shows that in the year 2017-2018, a woman was murdered every three hours with many of them sexually assaulted or raped beforehand.
One specific case sent shockwaves around the country, and across many parts of the world, in August 2019, with Meghan Markle paying a visit to the victim’s memorial a month later.
University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, was raped and murdered – allegedly by a 42-year-old post office worker who pretended to be offering help with her parcel.
Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, was a student at the University of Cape Town when she was attacked (Picture: Facebook)
Tens of thousands protesting outside parliament in Cape Town on September 5, 2019 (Picture: EPA)
The tragedy sparked nationwide protests against the plight which so many South African girls and women face.
Last year, during a programme of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, the presiding officers of Parliament said: ‘We cannot ignore the fact that gendered power inequality rooted in patriarchy is the primary driver of GBV.
‘As a society, we need to deal with this as a matter of urgency so that the men of tomorrow understand that their gender does not entitle them to women’s bodies or make them inherently superior in any way to the other gender.
‘Women should not have to fight gender-based violence alone; men must own up and be part of the solution.’
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