Roland Routh

A 24-year-old Outjo resident accused of killing his 19-year-old girlfriend in a fit of jealousy was convicted of murder with direct intent. Windhoek High Court Judge Naomi Shivute read the conviction with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act. Robert Funny Useb was convicted of the killing of Selma Khamuxas by stabbing her at least five times all over her body on 29 March 2019 at a bar in the Soweto location of Outjo.

It was charged by the State that during the period in question, the accused and deceased were in an intimate relationship. 

According to the indictment, on the night in question, they were socialising at a bar and the deceased was talking to other men and also requested her ex-boyfriend to buy her some alcohol. This angered the accused who took out a knife and started to stab the deceased all over her body, it is alleged. The indictment further reads that the deceased then tried to run away, and the accused chased her and continued to stab her. 

It is further alleged that after Useb stabbed the victim at least five times, other patrons at the bar came to her rescue and subdued the accused. She died due to hypovolemic shock caused by multiple stab wounds whilst being transported to a nearby hospital.

In her judgment, Shivute said that Useb’s version that he did not stab the deceased and that he did not even have a knife is far-fetched and not supported by evidence. According to the judge, five eyewitnesses saw him with the knife and four of them saw him stab the deceased. 

“The accused and the witnesses were not strangers to each other as they knew each other prior to the incident. There is no way the State witnesses could have been mistaken of the accused’s identity,” the judge remarked.

She further said by saying he did not stab the deceased; he did not see how the deceased sustained injuries and the deceased might have been stabbed by some of the State witnesses, the evidence as well as the probabilities of the case do not support the accused’s version. According to the judge, the version of the accused is a bare denial and is too improbable to be reasonably true. Although the accused was assaulted by some of the State witnesses, she said, this was after he had already stabbed the deceased.      

“This court is satisfied that the accused stabbed the deceased because of jealousy after she had stated that she was longing for one Gaiseb and because she was given money by Aukhumeb,” the judge said. 

The matter was postponed to 30 March for pre-sentencing procedures and Useb was remanded in custody. He is represented by legal aid lawyer Meriam Kandoni and the State by Ian Malumani.  

rrouth@nepc.com.na