ONGWEDIVA – The Oshakati High Court on Wednesday sentenced Johannes Mateus, aged 28, to 32 years in prison after it convicted him of having hacked his girlfriend with a panga in a frenzied attack in August 2018.
The savage assault that claimed the life of his victim took place at Okatope village in the Oshikoto region. Mateus also received an additional 12 months’ imprisonment for escaping from unlawful custody two days after his arrest when he was booked out by police for pointing-out during their investigations.

During the sentencing, Judge Johanna Salionga described Mateus’ explanation of what led to the brutal murder to be ‘lousy’, saying this explanation cannot be considered as a mitigating factor.
The judge further said the crime committed is not only serious but has become too prevalent in Namibia.
“In his own words the accused stated that at the time of the brutal assault, the deceased tried to block the panga with her hands but accused did not stop until the deceased was dead.  The killing was vicious, brutal and cruel, carried out near the homestead of the deceased.  With regard to escaping from lawful custody the offence is equally serious and prevalent. In athis case accused tried to evade his responsibility by running away,” stated the judge.

Mateus in his admission claimed that he had no intent to murder his girlfriend and that he viciously attacked her because she hurt his feelings when she accused him of having caused her miscarriage.
He claimed she accused him of sleeping around with other women and putting her at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
On the day in question, Mateus claimed that he met with the deceased in order for her to give him back the transport money she had taken the previous night without his consent.

The judge further remarked that although Mateus agreed to meet the deceased for purposes of returning the money she had taken from Mateus, Mateus took along a panga for reasons only known to him.
“After the brutal assault, the accused ran away from the scene leaving her to die an excruciating death.  It is unbelievable that such a spiteful murder was committed against a woman the accused claims to have loved,” stated Salionga.
– nashipala@nepc.com.na