Durban — A primary school teacher who survived abuse and attempted murder by her husband has penned a book about her ordeal.
Nkosingiphile Happiness Nxumalo, a mother of three from KwaNongoma, in her book titled Ngiyokhohlwa ngifile (I will never forget) details how she suffered at the hands of her husband, who committed suicide after thinking he had killed her in 2019.
Nxumalo’s book was launched over the weekend at the eThekwini municipal library.
She said her husband hacked her on the head and back with a machete in their home until he thought she was dead and then took a rope and hanged himself.
The incident left her right side paralysed. Nxumalo said she had to go through intensive therapy to heal.
She said writing was the best therapy for her because she was able to put her feelings down on paper.
“My husband was that person who controlled me. He would tell me that I needed to be home at a certain time. He chose my friends and family members that I could speak to.
“Sometimes, he would randomly check my cellphone just to see who I am talking to and my messages. He would beat me up whenever he felt like it and tell me how much he loved me and that I should never tell anyone about what is going on in our marriage because it was between us as a couple, and that was my biggest mistake. He told me that I would leave the marriage in a coffin,” she said.
Nxumalo added that on that fateful day in 2019 she had gone home. Usually, whenever she went to visit her family, he would insist on coming with her to check that she did not snitch on him about the abuse. She said he told her that if she ever spoke about what he did to her he would kill her and then kill himself.
“I called him to say that I am going to see my family and he told me that I should be back at a certain time, so from school I went to my family.
“I made sure that I was home on time because I knew what would happen if I was not there on time. When I came back, he said, so you have told your family that I beat you up?
“When I tried to assure him that I did not do that he reminded me of his promise that he would kill me,” said Nxumalo.
Her husband then started beating her up, took a machete and hacked her on the hand, back and head. Nxumalo said her head was saved by her braids which prevented the machete from going through.
Daily News