"He only stopped when he saw his hands were full of blood."
That's how Neo Tsele described an alleged attack on her by Idols runner-up Mthokozisi Ndaba in a Johannesburg flat early yesterday morning.
The 20-year-old woman has laid a complaint of assault against Ndaba.
It was filed at the Hillbrow police station on the first day of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign.
The incident comes a week after Ndaba lost the Idols title to 17-year-old Paxton Fielies and reportedly had to receive "assistance" to deal with his emotions.
Ndaba walked off the stage last Sunday night soon after Paxton was judged winner of the televised singing competition.
Tsele said she arrived at a friend's flat in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, and found Ndaba there with his cousin.
"My friend and I began arguing, as friends do. Mthokozisi kept intervening. We begged him to stop because he was being brutal; he was pushing me on the wall and squeezing me," said Tsele.
"I didn't even know who he was. He was a stranger to me and yet he was behaving in this manner." Tsele claimed Ndaba was drinking alcohol.
"He pushed me out of the flat into the cold. It was raining."Tsele said she returned to the flat because she was wet and cold, but Ndaba allegedly came at her again.
"I tried to push him back. He kept on coming at me, he punched me. He threw me on the wall and continued punching me until I was bleeding through my nose and my mouth.
"He eventually stopped when he saw his hands were full of blood."
Tsele said she called her brother, who arrived with the police. Ndaba had left by then.
He could not be reached for comment, but an Instagram post revealed that he was travelling "home" to KwaZulu-Natal.
Mzansi Magic, the DStv channel on which Idols SA is broadcast, is expected to issue a statement about the incident.
Hillbrow police spokesman Sergeant Mduduzi Zondo said an assault case had been opened against Ndaba yesterday...