41-year-old woman currently serving 18 years imprisonment for murdering her husband by slitting his throat with a kitchen knife, wants the High Court to consider reducing her sentence for the sake of her five children.
In her appeal, Sepiso Babi, a resident of Maganino village in the Zambezi region, says the sentence imposed on her in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court was
harsh.
Babi said she was the primary caretaker of her children, and due to her incarceration, they are suffering. She explained that two of her five children are epileptic and need constant attention.
Her firstborn son has since dropped out of school. According to her, the children are residing with her sickly mother, who is a pensioner. She said what happened to her husband was pure bad luck.
“I really loved my husband with all my heart, and I stayed with him for six years, even though he would always beat me. In my life, I never beat him. So, I am asking the court to feel mercy for me and my children,” pleaded Babi. On 12 November 2019, she was convicted of murder for the death of her husband Joseph Hausiku (33) in July 2017. She was consequently sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. During the trial, it was revealed that Babi slit her husband’s throat with a kitchen knife, which led to his death. It is understood that an argument started when the two were drinking tombo together at their village Maganino in the Sibbinda area. At some stage, the deceased is believed to have drunk the tombo without sharing it with the wife. It was then that an argument erupted, and the villagers had to separate them. After the argument, the husband allegedly took some maize grain and headed to Makanga, about an hour’s walk, to process the maize. The wife was, however, still angry with the husband, so she took a kitchen knife and followed him to Makanga, where she proceeded to slit his throat. The two share a five-year-old who was six months old at the time of the incident. The matter will be in court before Judge President Hosea Angula for the appeals’ mention roll on 21 April.
-mamakali@nepc.com.na