ONGWEDIVA – Police in the Ohangwena Region are investigating and incident where a 54-year-old man from Omhedi village shot and killed his 47-year-old wife before turning the gun on himself.
The deceased woman is identified as Laimi Shimooshili who was employed as a nurse at Okatope Clinic in the Ohangwena Region, while the husband was identified as Victory Hilifilwa Shimooshili who was working in Oranjemund. A brother of the deceased man told New Era that the couple, who have seven children including three sets of twins, have had problems in the past, which were believed to have been solved. “That day we spent the whole day together at a wedding, but he did not show any signs of being suicidal or relate marital problems to me. But my brother was also a very quiet man that could be the reason why I could not detect any sign of distress,” said Shimooshili’s younger brother.
The brother said family members and relatives who live close to the couple’s homestead were alerted by gun shots. When they arrived at Shimooshili’s residence, the husband was lying dead outside the bedroom, while the wife’s lifeless body was lying inside the room.
“She was shot through the ear and the bullet exited through the other ear while he shot himself in the mouth,” said the relative. According to Ohangwena regional police spokesperson Abner Kaume Itumba, it is believed that the couple had an argument before the shooting. Itumba said it is not yet clear what the couple had quarrelled about, but available information indicate that the argument started soon after the husband had returned from a family wedding. The incident took place around 01h00 on Sunday, December 29. The couple was buried last Saturday at Engela.
By Helvy Shaanika