A 47-year-old woman who survived a brutal panga attack has mustered the courage to tell of the fateful day when she lost her partner to suicide after narrowly escaping death at his hands.
It was not the first time that she was brutally beaten by her partner of 15 years. Ottilie Hangula’s final bout of physical abuse from Silas Iyambo was the most brutal, as she was hacked on the neck and face on 3 December at around 23h00 at Okathakiingondjo village in the Oshana region.
She said she was often beaten and threatened that if she would open a case, he would kill her. So, she never did, as she was afraid.
New Era on Wednesday paid a visit to the survivor at the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, where she was admitted.
Hangula narrated that she was hacked several times with a panga by her partner in their sleeping room during a heated argument.
“It was on Friday, 3 December that my husband sent me to go and visit his aunt at her house in my village. So, I came back very late, around 19h00, because I was helping his aunt with house chores,” she said.
Hangula explained that when she arrived back home, she didn’t find him there, and decided to follow him to the cucashops where they usually drank.
“He asked me why I took too long, and I told him I was busy helping his aunt with chores,” she said.
The couple then spent the night at the cucashops, drinking together until around 22h00.
“When we came back home, we found our kids sleeping already. But the last-born, who is eight-years-old, woke up when he heard our voices. We then decided to stay outside the room because it was very hot,” she explained.
When the wind started blowing, they went into their sleeping room, while the son went to sleep in his brother’s room.
“While in the room, Iyambo locked the door and hid the keys. He started looking for something under the bed. So, he took a panga and put it on the bed. He told me that he was going to hack me with the panga. He then took a rope and tied it onto the poles of the roof,” she continued.
“He started beating and hacking me several times. I was screaming for help, but my children could not hear me. A few minutes later, I fell down from the bed, and he rushed to the rope. He hanged himself with the rope because he thought I was dead.”
Hangula eventually realised her partner was dead, but was unable to do anything since the room was locked. She slept in a pool of blood the whole night while Iyambo was hanging from the roof.
“Around 07h00, our first-born son came to greet us. I told him to go and call our neighbours immediately. After the neighbours arrived, I told them that my partner hanged himself after he had hacked me,” she recounted.
Her neighbours immediately broke down the door and informed the police about the incident.
“I was taken to the Oshakati hospital’s ICU because I was in a critical condition, while my partner’s body was taken to the Oshakati police mortuary,” she said.
Hangula has three sons with her partner, and they have lived together for 15 years, although they were not married.
“I cannot eat well; I cannot sleep well because I am always thinking of him,” she added. Hangula said she thanked God that she survived the incident, and cannot wait to go back home to her children.
Iyambo was buried last Saturday at their village. While Hangula is still raw with emotion from the worst day in her life, she advised other women not to suffer in silence.
“My fellow women who are being abused, let us not be ashamed of reporting our
partners when they abuse us,” Hangula urged.