Maria David & Placido Hilukilwa
THE body of a seven-year-old girl who went missing on Tuesday was on Wednesday morning found floating in a water pan in the Ogongo Constituency, Omusati Region.
Initial reports suggested that the girl was abducted by an unknown person, but the latest version suggests it was a case of drowning.
According to police regional commander Titus Shikongo, the police at Ogongo were alerted at around 21:00 Tuesday that a seven-year-old was suspectedly abducted by an unidentified person while she and an older brother were harvesting mopani worms not far from their parents’ homestead.
Her lifeless body was found floating in the water Wednesday morning.
Shikongo said that a team of senior detectives was dispatched to the scene. They combed the area thoroughly for possible evidence.
“The body was found intact with no signs of harm or violation and was positively identified by family members,” said Shikongo, adding that preliminary investigations could not uncover anything that suggests any ulterior factors at the scene.
He expressed the hope that the post mortem examination would provide a conclusive cause of death.
It is alleged that the older brother of the deceased initially informed the police that they were harvesting mopani worms when an unknown male person wearing a white T-shirt approached them and they fled with the stranger hot on their heels.
He allegedly caught up with the girl and stuffed things in her mouth before carrying her away.
However, the boy allegedly changed his story on Wednesday.
He is now saying that the deceased simply walked into the water pan and drowned.
“He says he had to tell lies out of fear because they had been cautioned to never play in the water,” said Shikongo.
The police will now engage social workers to talk to the boy.
“He will possibly be much more comfortable to tell them the truth,” Shikongo said.
