“My sister’s burnt flesh was stuck to my own hands.”
These were the harrowing words spoken by 27-year-old Karabo Seroka‚ whose elder sister Lyzah died after being doused with petrol and set alight‚ allegedly by her lover‚ in their shack in Matlejoane in Atteridgeville‚ Pretoria.
Looking at his badly scabbed fingers‚ Karabo‚ who lived in a shack next to his sister’s‚ said he was awoken by her screams shortly after midnight on Sunday.
This was not the first time he had had to rush over to her house to spare her from the blows of her lover‚ whom she has been with since her childhood days‚ said Karabo.
He ran to their shack‚ only to bump into Lyzah’s partner‚ who was running away.
“I passed him by the gate and ran in to get my heavily pregnant cousin out of the burning shack. I then went back in for my sister. I got her out and tried to rip the burning clothes off her body‚” said a visibly traumatised Karabo.
“As I carried her out‚ she kept saying: ‘Look how he has rewarded me for staying 17 years with him. Look what he’s done to me. He has taken my beauty away‚’” Karabo said‚ staring into the distance as though reliving that very moment.
Just a few hours earlier‚ he had asked the man he regarded as his brother-in-law why he had poured oil all over their yard.
“He told me he was doing it to kill the snakes around the yard‚” said Karabo. “I didn’t think that he was referring to my sister.”
After rescuing her from the burning shack‚ he carried her in his arms to the main road of the informal settlement.
The roads are narrow and rocky‚ making it impossible for an ambulance to gain entry.
“At that point‚ I could feel her flesh on my arms ... But she was still talking and I kept telling her that things would be okay‚” said Karabo.
Several hours later‚ however‚ Lyzah died at the Kalafong Hospital. Many of her internal organs had been damaged by the flames.
The 38-year-old left behind two children‚ whom she had with her boyfriend. The children live with their grandparents in Sekhukhune‚ Limpopo‚ while their father is still on the run.
A burnt television set and a zinc tub were the only visible items in the heap of debris that used to be his sister’s home.
For Karabo this wasn’t the first tragedy.
“On the 24th of April 2015‚ I held my elder sister in my arms as she died. She had just been hit by a car. This is the second sibling I have lost after holding her in my arms‚” said Karabo‚ looking at his hands and erupting into tears.
“I shouldn’t have to deal with so much. I have seen too much in my life‚” he said.
He told TimesLIVE that although justice was never served for the first sister he lost‚ he was hopeful that it would not be the same for Lyzah.
“I can’t just rest. I need him to be found and jailed. I can’t simply accept it because it wasn’t an accident‚” he said.
Karabo‚ who is unemployed‚ said the little savings he had would now go towards burying his sister and taking care of her children.
“I was saving that money to try and pay a little lobola for my girlfriend at the end of the year but this has changed things. After this all happened‚ I told her that from now on‚ her and I have two children. I have to take care of them‚” he said.
-TimesLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
My sister’s burnt flesh was stuck to my own hands‚ says Atteridgeville man whose sister was burnt alive
These were the harrowing words spoken by 27-year-old Karabo Seroka‚ whose elder sister Lyzah died after being doused with petrol and set alight‚ allegedly by her lover‚ in their shack in Matlejoane in Atteridgeville‚ Pretoria.
Looking at his badly scabbed fingers‚ Karabo‚ who lived in a shack next to his sister’s‚ said he was awoken by her screams shortly after midnight on Sunday.
This was not the first time he had had to rush over to her house to spare her from the blows of her lover‚ whom she has been with since her childhood days‚ said Karabo.
He ran to their shack‚ only to bump into Lyzah’s partner‚ who was running away.
“I passed him by the gate and ran in to get my heavily pregnant cousin out of the burning shack. I then went back in for my sister. I got her out and tried to rip the burning clothes off her body‚” said a visibly traumatised Karabo.
“As I carried her out‚ she kept saying: ‘Look how he has rewarded me for staying 17 years with him. Look what he’s done to me. He has taken my beauty away‚’” Karabo said‚ staring into the distance as though reliving that very moment.
Just a few hours earlier‚ he had asked the man he regarded as his brother-in-law why he had poured oil all over their yard.
“He told me he was doing it to kill the snakes around the yard‚” said Karabo. “I didn’t think that he was referring to my sister.”
After rescuing her from the burning shack‚ he carried her in his arms to the main road of the informal settlement.
The roads are narrow and rocky‚ making it impossible for an ambulance to gain entry.
“At that point‚ I could feel her flesh on my arms ... But she was still talking and I kept telling her that things would be okay‚” said Karabo.
Several hours later‚ however‚ Lyzah died at the Kalafong Hospital. Many of her internal organs had been damaged by the flames.
The 38-year-old left behind two children‚ whom she had with her boyfriend. The children live with their grandparents in Sekhukhune‚ Limpopo‚ while their father is still on the run.
A burnt television set and a zinc tub were the only visible items in the heap of debris that used to be his sister’s home.
For Karabo this wasn’t the first tragedy.
“On the 24th of April 2015‚ I held my elder sister in my arms as she died. She had just been hit by a car. This is the second sibling I have lost after holding her in my arms‚” said Karabo‚ looking at his hands and erupting into tears.
“I shouldn’t have to deal with so much. I have seen too much in my life‚” he said.
He told TimesLIVE that although justice was never served for the first sister he lost‚ he was hopeful that it would not be the same for Lyzah.
“I can’t just rest. I need him to be found and jailed. I can’t simply accept it because it wasn’t an accident‚” he said.
Karabo‚ who is unemployed‚ said the little savings he had would now go towards burying his sister and taking care of her children.
“I was saving that money to try and pay a little lobola for my girlfriend at the end of the year but this has changed things. After this all happened‚ I told her that from now on‚ her and I have two children. I have to take care of them‚” he said.
-TimesLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
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