WALVIS BAY – Family and friends of missing University of Namibia student Matheus Sheehama conducted a search over the weekend in a desperate attempt to locate him.
Fears are mounting for the safety of the engineering student, who has been missing for a week now, dimming hopes that he could be located alive.
Sheehama was attending a braai at his girlfriend’s home when he was allegedly assaulted by six young men, who have since been arrested.
Fears are that he might have been fatally injured during the attack.
“We don’t want what happened to the late Shannon Wasserfall to repeat itself. The suspects and the girlfriend must tell the truth so that we can locate our brother,” said a cousin of Sheehama, Martinhus Nujoma, during a silent protest at the Walvis Bay court on Friday.
The suspects allegedly assaulted Sheehama, and stabbed him in the abdomen.
A fifth suspect, Michael Awaseb (24), believed to be an ex-boyfriend of Sheehama’s girlfriend, who is only identified as Jessica, appeared in court. The other suspects, Jimmy Gaeb (24), Marvin Wapota (20), Romano Paulus (20) and Enrico Gomachab (20) are all currently in police custody, as they were denied bail.
“The girlfriend only returned his shoes and phone, but claimed that she does not know what happened to him. It is impossible that no one knows what happened to him,” the concerned cousin said, while pleading with the suspects to reveal Sheehama’s whereabouts.
The police in Erongo, a preliminary investigation into the matter revealed that the five suspects were involved in a fight with Sheehama before his mysterious disappearance.
This prompted the police to open a case, and detain the suspects.
It is alleged that Sheehama (24), together with his girlfriend, went to her residence for a braai. Sheehama was allegedly falsely accused of slapping one of the attendees, his girlfriend’s brother. Suddenly, the girlfriend’s brother’s friends came and assaulted him.
“After the assault, nobody knows what happened to the victim, and his whereabouts are unknown,” Chief Inspector Ileni Shapumba said last week.
Meanwhile, International University of Management student Hope Neibes also appealed to the suspects to come clean on what transpired.
“What happened to him is very sad. Our location is very dangerous. I am a student, and freaked out every time someone wearing a hoodie passes me. I even go to school with my neighbour’s dog to keep me safe,” she said.
Neibes said she is disappointed that this happened to Sheehama. According to her, he did nothing wrong, and was just visiting his girlfriend.
“She betrayed him, so she must speak up. We need to find him, and he must come back home. Please let us know what happened to him so that his mother and family can know the truth,” she said.
The community on Saturday held another demonstration in the street where Sheehama was last seen. They organised a search party in the area and in the dunes. However, the search did not yield any results by Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Tutaleni police station commander, Senior Inspector Hilma Uuwanga, expressed her gratitude for the community’s support.
“We really applaud you for supporting the family. It really means a lot. As we say, the police are the community. You are our eyes and ears. So, let’s work together as a team and locate him,” she said.
Uuwanga said the police have been working tirelessly to locate Sheehama.
“We have been around on the ground. You may not see our movement, but we have been moving around on foot. Let us work together and find Sheehama,” she appealed.