Mary

Mary was 19 years old when she fell for an older man called Mike. They dated for a year and a half, and in that time she became pregnant. After that, they moved in together — and it was there that Mike revealed who he really was. He was abusive and treated her as nothing more than an object.

She gave birth to a baby boy, and naturally, all her attention shifted to the child. Mike was a highly sexual person, and every day grew harder for him because Mary could no longer meet his demands the way she used to. He started going out and pursuing other women, one of them being Mary’s own sister, Jane, who also had a child of her own.

He convinced Jane that he and Mary were separated, that he was only letting her stay temporarily while she looked for work, and because of the baby. Eventually, he convinced Jane to move in.

But time passed, and Mary showed no signs of leaving. Jane confronted Mike about it. That was when he told her the truth — he had lied. He and Mary had never separated. His plan all along was to have both women under one roof.

Jane was furious. She felt betrayed and threatened to leave. Mike beat her and told her plainly — if she left, he would kill her and her child. Just like Mary, she was now trapped.

One night, Mike came home with some kind of pills and told both women to take a couple each. They were knocked out within minutes. Mike had sex with both of them and made them have sex with each other.

He made sure the two sisters stayed at odds. He knew that as long as they didn’t talk to each other, they couldn’t compare notes about him. They were not allowed to speak to neighbours. When the family called, Mike had to be present to monitor every word.

It went on like that for years. Whenever one of them made a mistake in his eyes, the punishment was the same — beatings and rape. Both women were afraid to act because their children’s lives were on the line. They lived like slaves and were treated worse than that.

Then Jane reached her limit. She began secretly planning how to get herself out. She started making quiet phone calls to her family, telling them what was happening to her and her sister. By bad luck, Mike found out.

One early morning, a woman’s body was found near some bushes. A few kilometres away was the body of a young girl. Both were later identified as Jane and her daughter. They had been stabbed to death.

Mike and Mary told the same story — that Jane had taken her child and left in the middle of the night while they slept. Time passed. No one was charged. The case faded from people’s minds.

Life continued for Mike and Mary. The abuse did not stop. This time Mary wasn’t permitted to leave the house for more than an hour. Mike had a reason for that.

Mary was carrying a secret.

One afternoon while Mike was away, she took her son and walked to the chief’s office. She broke down and told them she knew exactly what had happened to Jane and her daughter.

It was Mary who had told Mike about the phone calls. Mike proposed they kill her. Mary resisted at first — but Mike worked on her. He made promises. He told her sweet things. He said it was Jane who had ruined their life together, and that once she was gone, everything would be better. Bitter and worn down, Mary went into the room where her sister was sleeping and stabbed her multiple times.

When it was done, Mike and Mary wrapped the body in a blanket and carried it into the bush in the middle of the night. That same night, Mike woke Jane’s daughter, told the child they needed to go somewhere, led her out to the bushes near where her mother lay, and stabbed her. He left her there to bleed out. While that was happening, Mary was back at the house, cleaning.

Both were arrested. Mike received the maximum sentence as the mastermind. Mary was sentenced for her role.