Windhoek
The State wants the court to send the man, who caused the death of his girlfriend at a dumpsite in Walvis Bay in 2012, to jail for a lengthy period on a conviction of culpable homicide.
State Advocate Cliff Lutibezi asked High Court Judge Alfred Siboleka to send Otto Angula, aged 39, to 14 years in prison.
He argued that the accused caused the death of another person, but even if he did not mean it, he should have foreseen his actions could be fatal.
Judge Siboleka acquitted Angula in May this year on a murder charge and instead found that he acted negligently when he hit 32-year-old Martha Nakale on her head with an iron bar.
Angula told the court during his plea that he wants to plead guilty, but the judge entered a plea of not guilty after Angula told him he hit the deceased to get her to release a “strong hold she had on his genitals”.
Judge Siboleka said in his view Angula stuck to his story and it sounded plausible, but t he overstepped the bounds of self-defence when he struck the deceased, who was on the ground, a second time on the head.
During submissions on the sentence Angula told the court that he is deeply remorseful about what happened and that he regrets it sincerely. He further told the court he contributed N$2000 to the funeral expenses of the late Nakale.
This was, however, disputed by family members of the deceased when they testified in aggravation of sentence. He also asked the court to show him mercy and sentence him to only six years in prison.
Angula has been conducting his own defence after he dismissed his State-funded lawyer, Christian Nambahu, at the start of his trial. Judge Siboleka will deliver the sentence on June 15.
Angula remains in custody.