2017-08-09Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala Ongwediva-An Angolan cattle herder was last Friday sentenced to 21 years imprisonment for theft, murder and violation of a dead body, after he was found guilty of murdering a pregnant Augustino Pombili Mwalimushi on April 14, 2015 at Omutemo village in Omuntele Constituency. Mwalimushi was a domestic worker in the same house as the accused and was three months pregnant at the time of her death. Judge Marlene Tommasi sentenced Shituleipo Mwahafa Estus, whose age is estimated to be between 18 to 22 years of age, to six months imprisonment for the theft of the deceased’s cellphone, which was found in his possession, three years for violating a dead body and 20 years for murder. The first count of the six months sentence as well as two years of the second count are ordered to run concurrently with the sentence imposed in count three. Estus pleaded guilty to all three counts. On the night of April 14, 2015 an intoxicated Estus is said to have stabbed Mwalimushi with a knife, fracturing her clavicle and causing injury which resulted in bleeding on the brain and swelling and bruising on her left eye. Mwalimushi fled and died in a nearby mahangu field, where the accused violated the corpse by inserting his penis and sand into her vagina. Judge Tommasi during sentencing said she considered the murder heartless, barbaric and perverted, and perpetrated against a vulnerable woman in the privacy and security of her home. “The violation of the corpse demonstrated the lack of respect and appreciation for community values; and the theft a further indication of his selfish desire for gratification,” she said. Given the gravity of the offences committed by Estus, the court emphasised the need for deterrence and retribution at the expense of his personal circumstances and consideration of his reform. Estus was employed as a cattle herder at the homestead where he was employed for a period of three months before committing the crime. He was arrested on April 15 and has been in custody since his arrest. 2017-08-09Staff Report 2
