Iuze Mukube
A Khorixas resident accused of allegedly murdering the mother of his three children to prevent her from testifying in a rape allegation against him, has submitted not guilty on three charges levelled against him.
Arnold Khamseb (50) made the submissions before Judge Claudia Claasen last week.
Khamseb is facing one count of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act of 2003, in connection with the death of Sylvia Tatamigu Gorases (46), who succumbed to a stab wound to the right side of her neck.
He is further facing a charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for allegedly assaulting the victim’s brother, Jaspart Kesta Goraseb, during the same altercation.
In addition, he faces a charge of housebreaking with intent to rape for allegedly breaking into a house and forcing open the door to an 11-year-old girl’s room with the intent to rape her. This incident allegedly occurred on July 7, 2018.
He was on bail for the rape charge when he allegedly murdered Gorases on 24 December 2019 to prevent her from testifying in the rape allegation.
Khamseb denied guilt on the charge of housebreaking and rape in connection with that incident.
Through his Legal Aid Lawyer, Petrus Grusshaber, he submitted that there were two conflicting versions as to how the deceased was stabbed.
The State alleges the accused inflicted the stab wound with the intent to murder, while Khamseb argues that it was the deceased who inflicted the stab wound on herself during a fall as a result of the struggle between the two at the time.
There is no direct evidence that Khamseb stabbed the deceased, stated Grusshaber, adding that the version of the accused was not shaken during cross-examination.
According to Khamseb, he went to the house of the deceased on her request to talk about their minor children and found her washing the dishes.
But during the conversation, he retorted that the deceased should seek assistance from the man she is sleeping with to buy what the children needed.
Subsequently, the deceased, in anger, grabbed a knife from among the dishes and stormed towards him.
He stated that while defending himself from the attack, he pushed the deceased to the ground and she fell with the knife in her hand.
It was from this fall that resulted in her stabbing herself with the knife on the right side of her neck.
For last count, Khamseb explained that he had access to the house on a daily basis, adding that he was never prohibited from entering the house.
Grusshaber argued that from the description of the complainant for rape, it can be concluded that it took place in a very short space of time.
The lawyer added that there was no source of light at the time, and the incident occurred at night, with the exception of light that shone into the room from the streetlight.
He stated that the description of the complainant was too vivid and only came from the fact that she had seen the accused wearing the same jacket she had observed during an earlier encounter.
Therefore, Grusshaber submitted that the accused should be found not guilty on all three counts.
The State, represented by Advocate Palmer Khumalo, submitted that while there is no direct evidence of the accused person stabbing the deceased, there is substantial circumstantial evidence that the accused stabbed and killed his wife.
For the rape count, Khumalo argued that the sexual act was proven through the testimony of the complainant as well as the DNA evidence, which confirmed that the accused’s DNA was found in the genitalia of the complainant.