OSHAKATI – Paulus Kaondi, 33, was on Friday sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in the Oshakati High Court for the murder of his girlfriend.
Judge Johanna Salionga suspended four years of the sentence for five years on condition the convict does not commit murder during the period of suspension.
Kaondi viciously attacked his girlfriend in February 2014 at Oshihawu village in Omusati Region.
He had asked the girlfriend, who was also the mother of his 10-year-old child, to come to his house that fateful night to interrogate her about her supposed infidelity.
The deceased had informed Kaondi that she was pregnant, however, five months later there seemed to be no evidence of such pregnancy.
An alteration ensued between the two and Kaondi slapped the deceased, who allegedly retaliated by beating him with a hoe handle and fleeing from the house.
The court was further informed that thereafter, Kaondi fetched a knife from the room, followed the deceased and stabbed her 18 times and she succumbed to her injuries. The deceased was stabbed 12 times in the back.
After stabbing the deceased, Kaondi went back to the room, placed the knife on the table and handed himself in at the Onesi police station.
During the sentencing, Judge Salionga described the manner in which the crime was committed as senseless, heinous and barbaric, filled with an element of possessiveness, selfishness and jealousy, hence a lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable and should be imposed.
The judge went on to say that at the time of attacking the deceased, there was no eminent danger upon the accused and that no words of apology can bring her back.
Thus, the judge concurred with the counsel for defence, Jatiel Mudambiri, who submitted that, “a failure by our courts to impose appropriate sentences in violent crimes by men against women will definitely lead to society losing confidence in the criminal justice system. This is so because domestic violence has become pervasive and endemic.”
In imposing the sentence, the judge took into consideration that Kaondi was a first time offender, who did not waste the courts’ time by pleading guilty. In addition to the guilty plea, Kaondi also apologised to the mother of the deceased and compensated the family as per the Aawambo custom.
Kaondi has been out of custody on warning after he had been subpoenaed to reappear in court after the matter was initially struck from the roll after spending about a year in custody.
Gotlieb Jatileni from Amupolo and Company Incorporated represented Kaondi.