Taimi Haihambo
EENGOLO – Haunted by what she describes unseen forces and weighed down by poverty, 22-year-old Natalia Titus from Eengolo village in the Outapi constituency of Omusati region carries the scars of both spiritual and physical hardship.
Titus’s life has been marked by tragedy, struggle, and mysterious hauntings that she said continue to torment her family. She was born in Omahila village, where her mother passed away when she was just two years old.
“One of my grannies took me in and raised me in Amilema in the Oshikoto region. I attended Oniigambo Combined School, and I was really performing well,” she recalled.
But her life changed in Grade 5 when she said strange things began to happen around her. “I started seeing snakes, being bitten by ghosts and hearing my name being called. Sometimes I would get slapped by something I could not see and beaten with hard sticks, and the wounds would vanish within minutes,” Titus said. “Food prepared for me would often be spoiled, as the ghost would throw sand on it.”
Her father, who had not been part of her life, eventually heard about her suffering and came looking for her. Once reunited, he tried to protect her from the strange torment. “My father always had money ready for my coffin, thinking maybe I would die. But God is big, I somehow survived,” Titus recalled.
Even with her father’s efforts, she said the spiritual torment did not end. It disrupted her schooling, forcing her to drop out for two years, and left her living in constant fear.
Just when life seemed to be normalising, more hardships struck: her father’s arrest during her final exams, homelessness after losing her father’s shelter, and alleged betrayal by an aunt who took all her savings.
But Natalia is not alone in this battle. She told New Era that her younger sister, 20-year-old Modestus Panduleni, has been haunted for over 10 years. “She just faints automatically, then goes blind and gets confused,” Natalia explained.
The terrifying episodes have disrupted Mondestus’ education, delayed her academic progress and dimming her future. Both sisters now live with their aunt after losing their mother.
“We are the only sisters. Our mother passed away, and our different fathers cannot take care of us. We are living with an aunt who is not kind to us. We need both financial and spiritual help,” Natalia pleaded.
Today, Natalia works at a small cuca shop near her village to support herself and sister, but she says the shadow of haunting and hardship still hangs heavily over their lives.
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