Swakopmund
Family and friends yesterday tried to hold back tears outside the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court when 32-year-old Zenobia Seas was brought to court to make her first appearance on a charge of murder and domestic violence, following the killing of her daughter on Monday afternoon at Terrace Bay.
Seas was arrested on Monday night while attempting to set herself on fire alongside the beach in Terrace Bay, 112 kilometres from Swakopmund, where she had allegedly picked up her daughter from kindergarten only to later suffocate the child, identified as Ava Owoses.
It is alleged that Seas, after killing her two-year and 11-month-old child, sent a chilling message to Immanuel Owoseb, the father of Ava, to say she had killed his daughter.
In court the soft-spoken Seas tried to obscure her face from journalists and the public who turned up in large number to catch a glimpse of the infanticide suspect.
Her parents, as well as relatives, who were visibly shocked by her actions, also brought her other daughter to the court, but Seas asked that the child be taken away.
She had to enter the court through a backdoor for her first court appearance, as police and court officials feared for her safety.
According to close members to the family of Owoseb, Ava would have turned three years old yesterday along with her father, who also celebrated his 38th birthday yesterday.
During her first court appearance Seas was not asked to enter a plea, but State prosecutor Paulus Shilongo opposed bail on the grounds that the case is still in the early stages of investigation, the crime is of serious nature and due to fears the suspect might abscond. Magistrate Surita Savage then informed Seas that she would have to remain in custody until her next court appearance on November 15. She can though submit a formal bail application in due course.
Friends and family members of both Seas and Owoseb related to New Era their complete shock at what Seas allegedly did and were baffled by the death of their young relative at the hands of her distraught mother.
“We did not see this coming at all. It remains a mystery how and why she did what she did,” they said. “How the two families will deal with this we don’t know, as we are torn apart.”
An elder member of the Owoses family said they are utterly distraught by the death of the beloved child. The motive for the murder is not yet known.