‘JEALOUS BOYFRIEND BIT OFF A PIECE OF MY FACE’
Cambridge woman claims partner disfigured her in biting incident
An Eastern Cape woman is living in fear after her boyfriend of 10 years allegedly bit parts of her face off after she refused to use him as her profile picture on her social media accounts this week.
Ncamisa Skeyi, 32, of Cambridge township, East London, said the father of her eight-yearold daughter bit off her upper lip and left cheek after he had refused to accept a breakup.
The man could not be reached for comment on Thursday as his phone rang unanswered and he did not respond to a text message sent to him at the time of writing.
Skeyi recounted her ordeal on Thursday, alleging to the Daily Dispatch that her boyfriend had been abusive for years.
“We have stayed together since 2009.
“We were not getting along at home because he drinks and becomes abusive,” she said.
The horrific injuries from Tuesday’s fight will leave Skeyi scarred and she has fled her home as she says she is in fear of her jealous boyfriend.
“If I am leaving or going home to my rural village he follows me to check where I am sleeping and makes accusations that I am cheating on him. Things have been worse ever since I wanted to move out.
“He got paid on Monday and went out to drink after work. When he came back he started an argument, saying that I wanted to leave him. He took a rope and said he was going to hang himself and threatened to kill me and our child.
“I woke the child up and left for my sister’s place and he followed me,” she recalled.
“The following morning I went home and found that he had broken our TV. I went to stay with my cousin and he came to my cousin’s place and told her that something bad will happen since I did not want to be in a relationship with him anymore.”
The woman went back to their home on Tuesday afternoon.
“While I was busy preparing supper he came running at me with a spade. I ducked and he fell, then he grabbed me and bit my upper lip and left cheek. I was taken to Frere Hospital that night and was stitched up.”
Skeyi has gone into hiding while she recovers from her injuries. She has not opened a case.
“I am not in East London now. I took the child with me. I want to come back and open a case that side but I am scared of what he will do when he finds me,” she said. The Eastern Cape was flagged as the second most murderous province for women and children last year when crime statistics were released.
According to the crime statistics released by police minister Bheki Cele in September last year, 550 women and 43 girls were killed in the province in the past financial year.
Masimanyane Women’s Rights International, which works with marginalised and abused women in the province, said gender-based violence was at a crisis level.
“As I am having this interview with you, we just got a call that a woman in East London has been beaten so badly that she can’t walk,” the organisation’s community projects manager, Buyiswa Mhlambi said.
On Saturday a woman will be buried in Mdantsane after she was killed by her partner.
“Every day we deal with these cases and we are asking women to talk to trusted people to get help,” she said, adding that they offered a safe haven for abused women.
Cambridge police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi said: “We always encourage people to speak out on domestic violence. It is important to open a case and a protection order.
“We don’t want our women to suffer in silence when there is help. We want woman abusers to be brought to book,” he added.