2018-01-22Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala Oshakati-The Oshakati High Court is trying to trace the whereabouts of a key witness for the State in the murder of Helena Shivute who was hacked with an axe and a panga by her boyfriend at Etilyasa in 2014. The court postponed the matter to February 15 and 16 to allow the State and the investigating officer to trace the said witness. The 32-year-old accused, Lukas Kasimeya Kasimeya, was remanded in custody. Kasimeya has pleaded guilty to murder. The investigating officer, a detective sergeant from Omusati Region, Otto Teacher Ithete, requested the court to grant him between two to three weeks to trace Maria Ndahafa Iipinge. According to Ithete, Iipinge is said to be residing at Otjiwarongo and also at Ondjiva in Angola. The defence counsel Beatrix Bianca Boois of BB Attorneys asked the State to speed up the process to trace the witness. Boois argued she was aware of the seriousness of the case her client is facing, but it was equally unjust that the case is not being finalised despite her client’s guilty plea. “Provision to locate the client should have been made already and should not have waited until the last minute to be done,” remarked Boois. According to court records, Kasimeya travelled from Okahao to Etilyasa to visit Shivute on February 8, 2014. On February 13, 2013, Kasimeya allegedly accused Shivute of having sexual relations with other men and threatened to assault her. The couple, their four-year-old daughter at the time, as well as the wanted witness left the cuca shops together and proceeded home. At home when Maria left, Kasimeya struck Shivute on the head with an axe and panga, leading to her death. Kasimeya fled after committing the offence but was arrested on March 15, 2014 at a shebeen in Oshikango. Advocate Ruben Shileka prosecuted with Judge Herman Januarie on the bench. 2018-01-22Staff Report 2
