KEETMANSHOOP – Aroab resident Piet Smith, 36, accused of having ripped open his three-month-old baby’s stomach over the weekend briefly appeared in the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of attempted murder.
According to the police Smith stabbed his girlfriend with a sheep shears Saturday morning after which he also ripped open the stomach of the couple’s baby.
Charged with two counts of attempted murder Smith took the stand dressed in a pink lady’s jersey and black and white waistcoat.
State Prosecutor Georgitte Losper told the court the victims were in a critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a Windhoek hospital.
According to her Smith’s offence is aggravated by the fact that it falls under the Domestic Violence Act, while the investigation was at a sensitive stage.
Magistrate Frans Anderson informed the accused that it would not be in the interest of the public and the administration of justice to have him released on bail.
“This is a serious offence. You heard what happened last week; the whole nation went into prayer. The High Court wants us to be careful when we hear cases of this kind,” he said.
The accused, who informed the court he would apply for legal aid, said he struck out after again being angered by his ‘mother-in-law’ who always uses the money he leaves with her for food, to buy alcohol instead.
“I go home every Wednesday from where I work. I gather sheep and attend to them and every time I come home I leave my money with my ‘mother-in-law’. But she always takes the money to drink. When I came home she started shouting at me about not buying food and not bringing money. Then she hit me on the head with a bottle as the neighbours came to tell her to chase me from their house,” he said as he showed a cut on his head.
“I am still standing with a headache now, but I really did not expect to stab those people. That was a mistake . . . I am sincerely sad over what I did to my wife and child,” he said.
Police sources said the accused attacked his girlfriend Evelyn Smith, who is also his cousin, and their son, after she refused him sex.
Police Crime Investigations Coordinator in the //Karas Region, Deputy Commissioner Rudolf Isaaks said that it appeared as if the woman would be paralysed from the stabbing.
The case has been remanded to April 7 2014 for further investigation.
By Jemima Beukes