Two years after making headlines in The Voice, when he left his girlfriend and her mum for dead in a vicious knife attack, a young man has been jailed for seven years.
Appearing before Francistown Magistrates on Monday morning, Jonathan Peter, 28, begged for mercy, telling court he committed the crime, which left his lover and her mother in hospital fighting for their lives, ‘out of love’.
“She had dumped me and I didn’t take it well; I couldn’t bear the thought of life without her!” he explained.
Peter further revealed he has since rekindled his romance with Dineo Thabologang, 21.
“I love her so much; even now, we are back together. We even went to the police to withdraw the matter but we failed,” the convicted man continued desperately.
It was not enough to save him from an extended stint in the slammer, where he will be dumped in prison and once again separated from his forgiving lover.
Originally charged with attempted murder over the bloody 23rd July 2021 incident, the charges were later downgraded to two counts of grievous harm.
The attack took place at the victims’ home at Mathangwane lands, some 20km from Marobela, an angry Peter arriving unannounced early in the morning to find Dineo outside cooking beans.
Without saying a word, he reportedly slapped the then 19-year-old before brandishing a knife from his pocket.
“Luckily, I am a strong and brave person. Immediately when he lifted the knife to stab me in the heart, I blocked it with my hand. I tried defeating him as he started stabbing me multiple times on the whole body. I fell down and my mother came running to stop him from killing me,” Dineo told The Voice in an interview on 5th August, 2021.
She was saved by her mother, Tapiwa Thabologang.
However, the 44-year-old paid a painful price for her bravery, with Peter turning the knife on her instead.
As well as being stabbed above the eye, her stomach was sliced wide open.
“I felt a strange warmth under my stomach. When I looked down, I was shocked to see my intestines were out. Quickly, I took a doek and tied them in,” revealed Tapiwa, who had retreated to the house to fetch an axe.
As she stumbled back out to confront the assailant once more, Peter spooked and fled the scene.
He was arrested at his home village of Marobela the following day.
Although he was hit with seven years for each count, the sentence is to run concurrently (at the same time), meaning Peter will be a free man in 2030.
