Staff Reporter
THE mother of deceased nine-year-old girl Akundaishe Natalie Chipomho, Rachel Kureva, through her defense lawyer, Andreas Joseph, denied any involvement in her daughter’s murder. She claimed she was unaware of her daughter’s fate and had been told that the child was with her aunt, Esther, on the day her body was discovered burned in a communal skip bin on 25 January 2020, in Windhoek North.
Kureva, along with Caroline and Edward Nkata, is charged with the murder of Chipomho. They also face several other counts, such as obstructing the course of justice, contravention of the Child Protection Act, attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, fraud, forgery, contravening the immigration acts, and overstaying in the country.
Warrant Officer (W/O) Sasele Linanga, a Scene of Crime expert, testified that on 25 January 2020, at about 10:26, he was summoned to attend a crime scene at Oivaar Street, Windhoek North, where a young girl’s body was found dumped and burning in a communal skip bin.
“I noticed that there was smoke coming out of the skip bin. I also observed that the body was seriously burned, though still identifiable. I further observed unused firewood gathered next to the skip bin. This seemed likely to be a secondary crime scene as there were no signs of defensive marks on the ground. On 26 January 2020, at about 12:00, I was summoned by W/O Josef to Unit 39, Jatties Park Flats, Rhino Street. It was suspected that the body was that of a Zimbabwean girl who resided in the same flat as her mother (Kureva) and two other adults (Caroline and Edward Nkata),” Linanga said.
Linanga added that he also took photographs at Unit 403 at Maerua Mall, where the murder suspects allegedly stayed from 24-26 January 2020, after committing the murder. The flat was rented by Rachel Kureva.
Defense lawyer Andreas Joseph, representing Kureva, questioned Linanga on Exhibit J, which entailed photographs captured at Maerua Mall. He added that his client, Kureva, had finished work around 15:00 on 25 January 2020, and was joined by Caroline and Edward Nkata, who were evading immigration officers for overstaying in Namibia.
W/O Linanga, however, questioned this version of events, asking where the deceased Akundaishe Natalie Chipomho was and why the mother had not inquired about her whereabouts when the couple overnighted at the medical unit she had rented, and why only her baby daughter was with her.
Further, Linanga said that when Kureva was brought from the hospital where she worked as a nurse on Sunday, she claimed she had finished work late on the previous evening of Saturday, 25 January 2020, and had not seen the older children, only her baby daughter whom she was breastfeeding.
To this, defense lawyer Andreas said that Kureva did inquire about her deceased daughter’s whereabouts and was told she was with her aunt Esther on Saturday, 25 January 2020.
Linanga disputed this, stating that the deceased had been in the mortuary on that date, having been discovered dead on Saturday morning, 25 January. He added that Kureva was not a suspect when she was taken from the hospital by police on Sunday, 26 January 2020.
“That day she indicated she finished work late on Saturday, 25 January. She said she just slept and went to work the next morning. She informed us that the kids were with accused one and two at church. She was asked to call the accused and to speak only in English by police, but she spoke in their language. Based on that, she knew where the accused were, that they were fleeing the country, and what had happened. She could’ve told us that they slept at Maerua Mall,” Linanga said.
To this, the defense lawyer indicated that Linanga was making conclusions without having all the facts, adding that accused one and two did not inform Kureva about their plans to leave town. “She denies telling you that she finished work late on Saturday, January 25, 2020. She informed the investigating officer that the night she worked late was the 24th, not the 25th,” Andreas said.
Linanga responded that Rachel had told officers she slept at Rhino Street, Jatties Park Flats, on the 25th, that the older children were already asleep, and that she only took her baby daughter to bed as she was lactating. “If we are to go with the version that she finished work at 15:00, she had time to find out where her child was,” Linanga said.
He added that Kureva indicated she had not seen her daughter on Saturday morning, 25 January 2020.
The aunt of Edward Nkata, Esther Nkata, also testified, stating that the two accused women said Edward had beaten the deceased child. She added that the deceased’s mother had told her Edward might have beaten the child in the wrong place, and she did not inquire further about this.
