A South African woman has reportedly been bludgeoned to death by her lover while her estranged German husband was away on a business trip.
Nokwanda Maguga-Patocka, 44, is believed to have been beaten to death by her 49-year-old boyfriend at her home in the township of Ginsberg in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa on Monday, 4th October.
Nokwanda separated from her husband of 20 years, Michael Patocka, a German engineer, just three months before the incident. It is unclear if divorce procedures were initiated.
The news site Dispatch Live reported that Nokwanda and her boyfriend, name not disclosed, had an argument that turned violent.
She reportedly jumped out of a window to get away from him and started running down the street.
Witnesses told the authorities that they saw the suspect chasing Nokwanda on the road before catching her and dragging her over to some bushes.
He then allegedly beat her to death, and Nokwanda’s nine-year-old niece is believed to have witnessed the incident.
Luyanda Mema, a spokesperson for the family, told local media: “I was at the mortuary this morning. Her head was swollen. You could see that she died of head trauma. He may have used an object to bash her head.”
The police arrived at the scene and found Nokwanda’s body in the bushes and arrested the suspect shortly afterwards.
Luyanda said the couple met in London around 20 years ago when Michael was working in the city for Mercedes.
The German engineer travelled the world for business so often spent long stints away from his wife. He returned to South Africa yesterday, 6th October.
Luyanda said: “There is a problem. It can’t be that we, as men, kill our women the way we do. I am angry because a nice soul, a nice human being, a peace-loving person, who could hardly kill a fly, has been killed over jealousy. I want men to really change.”
The police have not commented on any potential motives for the killing.
Luyanda added: “This person [suspect] needs to be called out. Who is he to decide to be God and kill a person?”
The suspect appeared in court yesterday, 6th October, but local media has not reported on the outcome of the hearing.
