INA'S NEW AGONY

Years after her brutal attack by the ‘Modimolle monster’ Ina Bonnette found love again . . . but then Covid led to another tragedy

- JANA VAN DER MERWE

FOR years she was haunted by her ex-husband’s words. “I’ll make sure no man will ever be interested in you again,” he told her as he launched into a savage assault that would scar her for life.

After the horrific events of January 2012, it seemed to Ina Bonnette that her embittered ex, Johan Kotzé, had achieved exactly what he’d set out to do.

In the aftermath of the attack on her – he tortured her for hours, raped her repeatedly and killed her eldest child – she felt tied to him for life.

Branded as the victim of “the Modimolle Monster”, Ina felt doomed to spend the rest of her days alone because no other man would want anything to do with her.

Then in April this year, Riaan Grobler (57), a farm manager from Modimolle in Limpopo, walked into her office.

“We just clicked. I immediately felt comfortable with him,” Ina (52), a financial advisor, tells YOU. Aside from a few soft, brown streaks, her previously coloured hair is naturally grey now and she looks radiant.

“For years, I walked around with what people were saying about me – the half-woman from Nylstroom [Modi-molle], who deserved what happened to me.

“When I confided in Riaan, he said, ‘There’s no way I’d ever be ashamed of being with you! I want to shout it from the rooftops, ‘This is my girlfriend!’ I want to show you off to the world. I want to show Kotzé that what he said to you, boy, was he wrong’. ”

But in September, a week before YOU was due to chat with Ina about her new memoir and meet her man, Riaan contracted Covid-19.