KATIMA MULILO – A 44-year-old man, Steven Sydney Naruseb, who handed himself over to the Katima Mulilo Police Station on Tuesday following the death of his partner and mother of his minor daughter, Rachel Ikume Simasiku (33), has been denied bail. 

Naruseb allegedly murdered Simasiku on Sunday night at around 21h00 before fleeing the scene. He made his first appearance in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where Magistrate Davy Kambinda postponed the matter to 22 April 2026 to allow for further investigations and for the accused to apply for legal aid. Cedric Mundia represented the State. 

According to the police, the deceased was taken to the Katima Mulilo State Hospital at around 21h45 by family members, who alleged she had been physically assaulted by her partner earlier at around 21h00 at Choto location. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased was heard screaming for help inside her house by neighbours, who attempted to rescue her but found the house locked from the inside. 

“When the neighbours checked through the window of the room where the deceased was screaming from, they observed the deceased’s partner holding a knife, and he immediately turned off the lights,” the police report stated. 

The report further indicated that the neighbours, all of whom were women, were unable to enter the house. They said they continued hearing sounds from inside the house until the deceased stopped screaming. 

Moments later, the suspect allegedly walked out of the house and told the neighbours to call the police as he was “done with what he was doing,” and then walked away carrying only his shoes. 

After Naruseb left, the neighbours called the police. When police officers entered the room where the screams had come from, they found Simasiku lying in a pool of blood and unconscious. 

She was rushed to the hospital by family members, where she was declared dead upon arrival.