Karabo Mokoena died a horrible death, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend. The 22-year-old's charred remains were found in a shallow grave in Johannesburg's Lyndhurst. She had reportedly been missing since April 28.
Just earlier this month, a man was found guilty of the murder and kidnapping of 21-year-old Anelisa Dulaze from Khayelitsha, who went missing on her birthday in 2016. Her body was found a few months later, buried by the man beneath concrete in a neighbour's yard.
And these are only recently reported cases.
Generally, South African statistics around the abuse of women at the hands of men, especially men they know, are shocking.
We have summed up five of these statistics, drawn from studies by the Medical Research Council and Centre for Public Mental Health on intimate partner violence (IPV):
- Every eight hours (on average), a woman dies at the hands of an intimate partner in South Africa.
- IPV is the most common form of violence experienced by South African women and is the leading cause of death among South African women.
- More women are killed by their current or former intimate male partner in South Africa than in any other country in the world.
- Victims remain hesitant to disclose their situation because of the stigma attached to IPV. Those who do report incidents reportedly deal with public servants who fail to detect their problem or deny that it exists.
- Of pregnant women, 36-40% experience physical IPV and 15-19% experience sexual IPV. The violence increases the risk for the baby, which could be born pre-term and with a low birth weight.
Mokoena's suspected killer is expected to appear in court on Friday.