Durban mom relieved after brutal father jailed

14 October 2015 - 02:03 By Nivashni Nair

Three years after her battered face appeared on the front page of The Times during Women's Month, Tina Mbili is no longer afraid. "I am free. Justice has prevailed. My child can be a child and play in parks or go to school without me worrying about something happening to her."I can live my life without fear," the young Durban mother said.Michael Padayachee, her former lover and father of her child, has been sentenced to 24 years behind bars for the brutal attack on Mbili, attempted kidnapping, assault of their baby and an unrelated assault of a man in a tavern.In 2012, he savagely assaulted Mbili and left for her dead at a park in Phoenix, north of Durban.Mbili had obtained an interim protection order against Padaya-chee after he tried to kidnap their daughter a month before the assault on her.He was out on bail when the assault occurred, for an incident in which he tried to take his toddler daughter away and throw the child over a 4m-high gate.In the separate case of assault, Padayachee grabbed a man, threw him down a staircase and hit him with a brick at a sports bar in Phoenix."He is not remorseful. He even stood up and shouted at me when I started to explain how the assault affected me."Yes, I was afraid of him, but I prayed every day that justice would prevail," Mbili said yesterday.The mother encouraged other victims of abuse to "fight until they are free"."I know he will not be in jail forever, but I won't let him control my life."I got a second chance when I survived and I am going to live my life. To other women in abusive relationships, get out while you can. You can start over. The law is on your side," Mbili said...

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