Windhoek
Gobabis resident Joel Petrus, 35, who was earlier this year convicted of intentionally killing his live-in girlfriend in Gobabis with a panga, was yesterday sent to 35 years in jail by High Court Judge Alfred Siboleka. The judge said that although society’s call for an end to violence against women is continuously loud and clear, it would appear that violence is still being prioritised by most people as the only viable route in resolving domestic disputes.
“Quite a good number of people seem to be firmly anchored in this belief in total disregard of the resultant disastrous consequences such as death and the suffering of the victim’s dependants,” the judge continued. He said the actual parting of ways when couples are faced with irreconcilable differences is continuously being ignored. Judge Siboleka said that counsel for the accused submitted that the court must acknowledge the reason for the accused’s actions on the day of the incident as an influence, from the impression he got after viewing the SMS on the cellphone of the deceased whom he so dearly loved, that she was cheating on him. According to the judge the conclusion of the defence counsel that if the court does not acknowledge this it will condone cheating, holds no water.
“In my view the failure of the accused to restrain himself coupled with jealousy cannot be regarded as extenuating circumstances,” Judge Siboleka stated and continued: “The accused’s further conduct of failing to ask for help so that the wounded deceased could have been taken to a nearby health care centre for assistance is a sign of no remorse.”
According to the judge, Petrus did not want the deceased to survive the attack when he covered her with a blanket, locked her in the room, took the key and left her unattended. “That is a sign of an ‘I don’t care attitude’,” the judge stressed. In fact, the judge said, Petrus was concealing his callous actions from immediate detection to avoid arrest.
The judge further said the SMS message the accused allegedly found on the deceased’s cellphone does not change the fact that the deceased was a vulnerable defenceless member of society whose protection forms the core aim of the legislature promulgating Act 4 of 2003 (Combating of Domestic Violence Act).
“Our society requires this court’s sentences to reflect the seriousness of all murder offences committed during and after the existence of a domestic relationship between the victim and the offender,” Judge Siboleka emphasised. He said he has taken everything stated in the judgment in consideration of sentence and also reflected on the accused’s own evidence that the deceased hit him with the blunt side of the panga, and that he blocked the blow and immediately disarmed her.
At that point, the judge remarked, the deceased did no longer pose a threat to him. That, Judge Siboleka said, was the appropriate time to leave the deceased unattended, but nonetheless still alive. Petrus was convicted on April 5 on a charge of murder with direct intent read with the Combating of Domestic Violence Act for killing Maria Erastus with a panga during the period August 4 to 5, 2012.
Petrus was represented by Boris Isaacks on instructions from legal aid and Deputy Prosecutor General Jackson Kuutondokwa appeared for the State.