THE family of a Cape Town woman who was killed by her boyfriend on Women’s Day seven years ago, believe they can now start to heal after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Yeshnee Kuni, who was 33 at the time, had been set alight in the home, a secured complex, she shared with her boyfriend, Darren Leslie Kershaw in Burgundy Estate on August 9 in 2017.
Kuni, who was a manager for an import and distribution company, suffered extensive burn wounds and died in hospital shortly thereafter.
Kershaw, 40, was thereafter arrested and charged with murder and arson.
In September, he was found guilty and last Thursday, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and three years for arson in the Western Cape High Court. The sentences will run concurrently.
Eric Ntabazalila, the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in Western Cape, confirmed the sentence.
During the trial, it emerged that Kuni and Kershaw had a tempestuous relationship. During the late afternoon of August 9, in 2017, Kershaw doused Kuni with bioethanol fuel as she was sitting in an armchair in the lounge and set her alight. The armchair in which Kuni was sitting at the time also caught alight, as did the items in the lounge.
It was heard that Kuni fled towards the main en-suite bedroom. Neighbours who saw the plumes of smoke from the fire, alerted emergency services and police.
Kuni shouted for help from inside the house, and when she and Kershaw emerged from the house, she was still shouting for help for herself as well as for her dog.
Kuni was admitted to hospital for treatment on the same day and passed away on August 12.
Kuni’s younger sister, Ushanta Gangen, 38, also of Cape Town, said the family was satisfied with the sentence and that justice had prevailed.
“Nothing will bring my sister back, but at least he has been held responsible for what he had done to her. He also had absolutely no remorse, showed no regret or sorrow at all, right to the very end of his sentencing. He deserves to suffer in prison as we suffer every day of our lives with this trauma and pain. However, we can now begin the process of healing.
“I also hope that through my sister’s story, women who suffer in silence, realise that they are only giving their abuser more power over them. It is best to speak out. If it happens once, it will happen again and the cycle will continue. Rather get out, you are stronger than you think,” she said.