Eba Kandovazu 

One of the first police officers to arrive at the scene where the charred remains of nine-year-old Natalie Chipomho were discovered in Windhoek on 25 January 2020, testified on Tuesday that her face was not recognisable.

The gruesome discovery of the child’s body was made on 25 January 2020 by a security guard at a rubbish dumping site in Windhoek North, the State is charging. 

The suspects in the matter, Edward Nkata, Caroline Nkata and the deceased girl’s mother, Rachel Kureva, appeared in the Windhoek High Court before Judge Philanda Christiaan. 

It is alleged that the trio fatally assaulted Chipomho and dumped her body in a skip bin at the waste dumping site before burning it.
The three suspects denied guilt at the start of the trial. They face charges of murder, attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, a count of failure to provide adequate medical assistance to a child, two counts of fraud, and a count of forgery. 

Detective warrant officer Joseph Ndilyowike testified that when he arrived at the scene, he observed rubbish and a partially-burnt blanket near the deceased’s body.

“At that point, there was no clue who she was or where she resided. We started preliminary investigations at the scene to see if we could establish where the child resided and possible suspects, if any.  We then noticed there was a CCTV camera on the street and we approached the City Police to retrieve the footage. 

We established that two people were seen pulling a dustbin towards a municipal skip bin. We observed that the person pulling the dustbin was a man, and a woman carrying a baby on her back accompanied him,” Ndilyowike testified.

It is alleged that an eyewitness, who is a neighbour of the suspects told police officers that he saw a “fat” man and a woman with a baby, carrying a rubbish bin around 21h00 on 24 January 2020.
Allegations are that the deceased was fatally assaulted in a Windhoek flat, where she resided with her mother and the Nkata couple.

Further allegations are that the Nkata couple fled Windhoek shortly after the discovery of the body, and were arrested after being intercepted by police officers at a temporary roadblock between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo.

They were allegedly on their way to Okakarara. Kureva, who was employed as a nurse at the time was arrested at her place of work in Windhoek.

The trial continues, with Ethel Ndlovu representing the State. Defence lawyers Mbanga Siyomunji, Milton Engelbrecht and Hamunyela Andreas represent the accused.
-Nampa