Durban - A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his girlfriend.
Lunga Lennox Nqayi was convicted and sentenced in the Eastern Cape High Court this week.
Nqayi was found guilty of killing his girlfriend, Bridget Nokwanda Mguga-Patocka, a businesswoman.
According to the NPA Nqayi and the deceased lived together in Ginsburg, in the district of Qonce.
The court heard that on the night of the murder, October 3, 2021, the couple had been arguing.
“Nqayi assaulted the girlfriend who jumped out of the window and ran away,” said provincial NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.
“However, he chased after her, caught up with her on the streets and continued the assault.
Tyali said a neighbour who intervened, enquired about the cause of their quarrel and Nqayi alleged that Mguga-Patocka was cheating on him.
“He started assaulting and strangling the deceased again, in the presence of the neighbour who intervened again and left under the impression that calm was restored.
“The neighbour later decided to walk to the couple's home to check on them.
“However, he saw them in the street in the deceased’s vehicle, with the deceased screaming and attempting to jump out, but Nqayi drove off with her.”
The court heard that in the early hours of the following day, Nqayi took the deceased to the hospital, where he claimed that she had collapsed from chest pains and shortness of breath, as a result of falling as she jumped out of a window.
“It transpired that the deceased was dead on arrival at the hospital,” said Tyali.
The NPA said Nqayi pleaded not guilty, but the court convicted him on the strength of evidence led by State Advocate Tanduxolo Soga.
Nqayi was jailed for an additional five years for defeating the course of justice.
IOL