A man accused of setting his pregnant ex-girlfriend alight has been denied bail in a Cape Town court.
|||Cape Town - A man accused of setting his pregnant ex-girlfriend alight has been denied bail in a Cape Town court.
Roger Lucas, 24, of Elsies River, allegedly attacked Nazeema Terreblanche, 22, also of Elsies River, on June 14, after she told him that she wanted to go to the police station to get an interdict against him.
The pair, who have a two-year-old son, argued and Lucas flew into a rage but left without further incident.
But the calm was short-lived; he is believed to have returned with petrol, which he poured over her – while she carried her friend’s nine-month-old baby – and struck a match.
The young woman burst into flames and ran down the street screaming.
Bystanders helped her put the fire out.
Terreblanche sustained second- and third-degree burns over almost 95 percent of her body and is in a critical condition in Tygerberg Hospital.
Despite Lucas grabbing the child from her, the boy still sustained minor burns to his feet.
Lucas, dressed casually in a blue hooded top and black track pants, chose to represent himself during Monday’s bail application in the Goodwood Magistrates’ Court where he faces two attempted murder charges.
He told Magistrate Ricardo Phillips that he is the sole breadwinner of his family and needs to be released to help at home – he sells discarded metal to scrapyards.
But State Prosecutor Laeeqah Barends pointed out that his and Terreblanche’s son receives a state grant.
When asked what had happened the day Terreblanche was attacked, he simply said: “Yes, I did that. I was very, very angry.”
Investigating officer Warrant Officer John Bock told the court that the seriousness of the crime needs to be weighed up against Lucas’s freedom.
“I still can’t even talk to her because of the extent of her injuries. I have never in my life seen anything like this,” he said.
He also said Lucas had run away from police when they came to arrest him on June 20, making him a flight risk if he was given bail.
Lucas’s family and friends were very angry with the outcome of the application, saying the two had a volatile relationship.
Lucas’s mom Rose Adams, 57, said Terreblanche had once allegedly threatened Lucas with a long knife.
And his current girlfriend Janine Daniels, 23, told the Daily Voice that Terreblanche had once stabbed her with a broken bottle.
Daily Voice