By John Muyamba
MASIVI – A woman and her minor son were brutally murdered at Masivi village in Kavango West Region, along the Rundu-Grootfontein road.
It is believed the two were killed with a traditional axe, as their remains showed the wounds of a vicious axe attack.
The police have opened two cases of murder, believed to have occurred in the early morning hours.
The deceased woman worked at Ndina Shebeen No 2, opposite Pandureni Primary School at Masivi village and lived in a back room on the premises of the shebeen where she and her 4-year-old son were found slaughtered.
The woman was identified as Laulencia Kadana, age unknown, a mother of two children. Her oldest child is a girl in Grade 7, and according to the village headwoman, Henok Regina, she (Kadana) lived at Masivi village most of her life.
She was described by many villagers as a humble person.
“She was a good woman, didn’t take alcohol and was not a person who would look for trouble. She lived in the homestead near to the shebeen where she worked, but was asked by the shebeen owner to move into the backroom so that they could live together as she (shebeen owner) also lives there with her minor son,” said one villager.
Sources said the two deceased were in the room with the shebeen owner’s son when the killer struck.
The owner of the shebeen was not around at the time of the violent attack as she had travelled to the north.
The suspect in the killings is said to be a Grade 7 learner at Pandureni Primary School, just opposite the shebeen.
According to the school principal the boy is a troublesome learner and even social workers know about his bad behaviour as the school had reported him to the authorities.
He had been receiving counselling for a long time and is known to have broken into shebeens around the village.
“He was identified by the son of the shebeen owner who escaped the brutal attack and he had blood on his clothes,” said another villager.
This is the fourth murder at the village this year.
Not long ago a primary school boy was beaten to death by his father for allegedly stealing neighbours’ money, and a woman was also stabbed to death by her husband.
“This village is affected by drugs. People especially the youth are smoking dagga and this is a serious concern,” said the village’s primary school principal, Mr Hamutenya.