NEWS & ANALYSIS

"100 lashes! Video: How cruel woman beat schoolgirl!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, October 9 2013

Daily Sun (October 9 2013) - THE woman accused the schoolgirl of dating her boyfriend and invited her to her house . . . Then she locked the door and hit the defenceless girl more than 100 times with a sjambok! AND SHE ASKED HER FRIEND TO VIDEO THE ENTIRE 13-MINUTE ATTACK!

The cruel beating of Nompilo Vilakazi has infuriated residents of Nceceni Village, near Nquthu in KZN.

One of them, a SunReader, sent us a copy of the video. It shows Nompilo on her knees weeping and pleading for mercy and trying to defend herself as the woman, Amahle Mdlalose (22), carried out her brutal attack.

At one point Nompilo tried to get out of the door but Amahle stopped her - and continued the beating,which included punches and kicks. The angry woman handed a phone to her friend to film the assault.

"I want the whole world to see this video," she says. "Crying won't help you. Just because you're pretty you think you can take my man?" Later she can clearly be heard saying: "After I am done with you, you'll stop dating other women's men. You want my child to grow up without a father?"

Angry residents of Nceceni are threatening to take the law into their own hands - and are also questioning the role of the police in the attack, which happened three weeks ago.

Kwazulu-Natal Police Captain Thulani Zwane told Daily Sun yesterday that an assault case was opened at Mondlo Police Station, but was later withdrawn by Nompilo's grandmother. He added: "But we re-opened the case on Thursday last week and the investigation is ongoing."

But Nompilo's grandmother, Nozipho Vilakazi, said: "We never went to the police station to withdraw the case.

"The police dropped Nompilo at home and went to Amahle's house."

Speaking to Daily Sun from Charles Johnson Memorial Hospital, where she is still recovering from the attack, Nompilo said after she escaped from Amahle's house, she went straight to Mondlo Police Station to report the attack to cops.

She was shocked when police came back with Amahle.

Said Nompilo: "The woman apologised but I told her that I wouldn't forgive her. The police said I was playing games.

"I just want her behind bars for what she did to me. She humiliated me and now I am even scared to walk around because I am that girl in the video that was beaten."

In the video Amahle slaps and punches Nompilo every time she denies making moves on her boyfriend.

"If you think I'm beating you now, prepare yourself for the worst," she says.

Telling her story to Daily Sun, Nompilo said: "When she started beating me I told her to stop but she wouldn't.

"She said I was proposing love to her boyfriend, but I never did that.

"I tried to run away but she caught me before I could set foot out of the door and that's when she got her friend to give her a pocket knife," said Nompilo.

"I was so scared.

"I thought she was going to stab me."

After several minutes of being beaten, the woman is seen sitting on the couch to catch her breath before getting up to punch and kick Nompilo some more.

The friend who is shooting the video says: "People are going to laugh when they see this. Your parents are also going to see this video"

At the end, Amahle is heard saying: "Don't ever go near my boyfriend again and I don't want the police or your family to come here or I'll wait for you at school."

The hospital refused to answer questions about Nompilo's condition.

But the schoolgirl told us: "Ever since she beat me up, I have been getting painful migraines and I feel dizzy.

"The doctor ran tests and I am still waiting for the results."

- Nompilo's mother, Buhle Vilakazi (32), who works in Newcastle, said: "This woman beat up my child and last night she had to be admitted to hospital again because she is getting migraines.

"And the police let her go."

- Amahle's phone was not answered yesterday.

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 287 222 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 2nd Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

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