WINDHOEK – Thirty-one people have been arrested in Omusati Region in connection with the brutal attack on July 15 on three people who were accused of poisoning a man at a local sheeben.
According to Namibian police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, the arrest was a result of an incident in which two men and a woman were attacked and brutally beaten by a mob of angry residents who accused the trio of being in possession of a deadly poison and of being responsible for the recent death of several residents in the area.
Kanguatjivi explained that the public became enraged by the recent death of Moses Shiningayamwe Embula, 26, who fell sick while socialising with friends at a local sheeben in Omushapi village, Tsandi Constituency. Embula died on July 4 at Tsandi district hospital.
The community along with Embula’s family strongly believed that his death was a result of poisoning and not natural causes. The family requested the police to carry out an autopsy, which was done on July 11.
“The autopsy report however ruled out the poisoning aspect and the family members of the deceased were informed as such. Despite all these efforts, the mob ignored the outcome of the autopsy and took the law into their own hands,” explained Kanguatjivi.
A video of the assault went viral on social media. In the video one can see the public brutally beating the two men and woman with tree whips. Furthermore, the public dismantled the sheebeen.
The mob could be heard demanding that they be given the deadly poison, the shebeen be dismantled and items found inside be gathered in a pile and set alight.
Three cases have been opened against the attackers. They face charges of malicious damage to property, assault read with the provisions of gender-based violence and theft. All accused were denied bail when they made their first appearance in Outapi Magistrate’s Court on July 19 and 22. The court postponed the matter for further police investigations to September 22.
“The Namibian Police Force wish to request aggrieved members of the public to desist from taking the law into their own hands, but to rather follow legal processes to address grievances,” noted Kanguatjivi.