Student strangled as suspect drowns himself
Yet another case of murder-and-suicide has been reported in northern Namibia after a 26-year-old man allegedly strangled his girlfriend before drowning himself in an earthen dam this week.
The body of 24-year-old Lavinia Nekundi was discovered on Tuesday in a room at Ongha in the Ohangwena region, while her suspected murderer Faustinus Shikondobolo’s lifeless body was retrieved from an earthen dam by police divers yesterday.
“It is suspected that on or early evening of Sunday at Ongha No 1 informal settlement, the suspect strangled the victim to death. The body of the 24-year- old Namibian female was discovered inside a house, known to be under the control of the suspect. She was a student at IUM, Ongwediva,” said Deputy Commissioner Zacharia Amakali, the crime investigations coordinator in Ohangwena.
The police believe the suspect committed suicide by drowning himself in the dam.
An inquest docket has been opened in the matter.
The young deceased couple were residents of Ohadiwa yaKakola in the Okaku constituency of Oshana region and are said to be neighbours.
Endola constituency councillor Ferdinand Shifidi, under whom Ongha resort, yesterday expressed sadness over the incident.
He advised young people to rather seek counselling or help from social workers to avoid such incidents from happening.
It is alleged the woman, who was a final year student at the International University of Management (IUM) in Ongwediva, recently went home.
According to Shifidi, the victim was supposed to go back to Ongwediva on Sunday but later told her parents that she is going to Ongha to make copies of her qualifications and certify them.
“Apparently, from there, the victim then went to the shebeen, owned by the suspect, who is believed to be her boyfriend, after certifying her copies at the police station. From there, no one heard from her. People were under the impression that she has gone back to school,” said Shifidi.
The councillor further explained that on Tuesday afternoon, the suspect sent a text message to his cousins at home, telling them to go to his cuca shop to clean it because he was far.
“When his relatives went to clean the cuca shop, they opened a door – just to stumble upon the lifeless body of the student. They then alerted the parents, who then informed the police,” said Shifidi.
According to the councillor, when the police arrived, they found all the documents of the victim next to her lifeless body.
They then pursued the footprints of the suspect until at the earthen dam in the same area.