2008-01-09Staff Report 2 "By Lynette Kozosi GOBABIS A two-year-old girl is suspected to have been eaten by a hyena in the Epukiro Constituency during the festive season. Police in Epukiro yesterday confirmed that the girl disappeared in mid-December. The police are still searching for her. It is reported that the girl and her elder sister aged four, left their home to play in nearby bushes at Ohakavena village in Epukiro. The weather is said to have been cloudy on the day the children went missing and by the time people realised the children were nowhere to be found, it was late and already getting dark. Thereafter, it started to rain. The rains made the search for the girls difficult and that is when they alerted the police. The four-year-old girl was located days later at Otjijere, another village several kilometres away while her two-year-old sister has not been seen since then. Sources say the four-year-old girl revealed that while they were playing under a bush, a vicious animal that resembled a dog but had red eyes came close to them. The four-year-old girl told people of Otjijere that the wild animal took her sister. ""There is no trace of the child; no head or bones and a hyena won't eat someone without a trace. That again also puts us in doubt of what animal it really was,"" a police source said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a villager from Ohakavena told New Era that the two girls lived with their father who is a farm worker at the village. ""I even called the councillor's office myself to ask if they could do something to help find the child. And nothing has come out of it. The councillor should get back to us on this issue,"" the villager said. When contacted for comment yesterday, the Councillor of Epukiro, Brave Tjizera, said from Witvlei that he was not well-informed about the case and had nothing to say. " 2008-01-09Staff Report 2
