Maria Amakali
Windhoek-Gabriel Tulinane David, a father who is in custody for allegedly drowning his five-year-old daughter, has denied that he intentionally killed the child.
David, 30, is said to have deliberately drowned his daughter Cornelia Indileni David in Goreangab Dam in February 2016.
Making an appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Katutura last week, David – who was a soldier in the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) stationed at Suiderhof Military Base in Windhoek before his arrest last year – made a no-guilty plea, denying having played any role in the death of Cornelia.
Opting to make his preliminary plea without his defence counsel before magistrate Michelle Kubersky, David was thoroughly informed of his rights and the charges that he faces and what it meant to take an interim plea.
The prosecution is charging David with a count of assault read with the provisions of the Combatting of Domestic Violence Act and a count of murder. It is alleged that two days before the five-year-old was discovered floating in the dam, David picked up his daughter from her maternal relatives in Babylon informal settlement in Katutura. It is further alleged that while his daughter was in his care he deliberately drowned her and then disappeared before his arrest days later.
At his formal bail application, David explained that his daughter’s death was an accident. He said that his daughter slipped and fell into the dam while they were walking on the edge of the dam. According to him his efforts to rescue his daughter were all in vain as the five-year-old had already drowned.
The prosecution alleges that David deliberately drowned his daughter and texted the mother of his child that he had killed their baby girl.
Having made his not guilty plea, David was informed that his docket will now be forwarded to the prosecutor general’s office for a decision. David is expected to make a return in court on April 30 for the prosecutor general’s decision.