Outrage over murder

By: WERNER MENGES and JANA-MARI SMITH

JUNIAS Fillipus, also known as Mwamenange, aged 32 and unemployed, is the man accused of raping and murdering schoolgirl Magdalena Stoffels in an incident that shocked Namibia this week.

Fillipus’s name can now be revealed, after he made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on charges of murder and rape yesterday.
Fillipus appeared before Magistrate Gerrit van Pletzen under heavy Police guard. In the courtroom where he appeared in the dock the public gallery was filled to capacity.
Outside was an enraged crowd of protesters; fed up with violent crime in Namibia, thirsty for revenge, and grieving over a young life cut short through a brutal act of violence.
Police officers kept the protesters outside the court premises, but the din of their calls for justice to be meted out to the man accused of murdering and raping Stoffels could still be heard inside the courtroom.
Fillipus’s court appearance was brief. Magistrate Van Pletzen informed him of his right to legal representation, his right to apply for State-funded legal aid if he cannot afford to pay for a lawyer’s services himself, and also his right to conduct his own defence if he does not want to be represented by a lawyer.
Speaking through an interpreter, Fillipus told the court: “I will defend myself.” He said nothing more.
Public Prosecutor Salomé Bampton asked the magistrate to postpone the case to September 1 so that further investigations can be carried out.
Magistrate Van Pletzen ordered a postponement to September 1 as requested. He also ordered that Fillipus would remain in Police custody until then.
Fillipus was arrested on Tuesday, shortly after Stoffels, a 17-year-old student at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School in Windhoek, was found mortally injured in a riverbed close to the school.
It is suspected that she had been raped. She also had cut wounds under her chin.
She was rushed to a hospital in the city, but her life could not be saved.
A Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi, said yesterday that according to a report on the autopsy that was done on Stoffels she died “due to suffocation and stab wound injuries”.

‘BRING HIM OUT’

The multitude of people who crowded the streets outside the court consisted of marching students from the University of Namibia (Unam), Polytechnic of Namibia students, primary and secondary schoolchildren and members of the community.
The crowd verged on the edge of unruliness, as protesters were overwhelmed with emotion and anger at various stages.
They shouted for the suspect to be brought to them, chanting: “Bring him out, bring him out, bring him out.”
A small coffin, a symbol of the untimely and brutal death of Magdalena Stoffels, was held up as the crowd chanted that the suspect should be put inside the coffin.
“Bring him out, bring him out, we want him in the coffin,” they chanted.
Adults and children in unison demanded “justice” and a general sentiment that was shouted out loud was that the suspect should be “hanged”.
The issue of the death penalty was also brought up by a fifth-year Unam law student, Stephanie de Klerk.
“The laws are not deterring anyone. We are also calling on the churches, who have access to the community, to start advocating for the death penalty,” she said.
She said it is time to “critically look at reintroducing the death penalty. Clearly the laws in their current form are not working to deter criminals.”
The Constitution has however outlawed the death penalty in Namibia, and that part of the Constitution cannot be changed.
Doreen Sioka, the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, was present at court to accept a Unam petition which called for stricter punishment of perpetrators of violent crimes and the creation of institutions to protect women and children.
Through the petition, the students argue that despite legal frameworks such as the Combating of Rape Act, “cases of violence against women are manifesting themselves with alarming experiences especially in urban areas”.
The students urged the Ministry to increase teamwork with other, relevant Ministries and the Police to ensure that lawmakers and security personnel are up to date on current laws and “be more vigilant”.
The Minister has been petitioned to establish an Office on Violence Against Women which would be responsible for implementing acts and policies related to rape and violence against women.
“This will mean that more strength and co-ordination will be had in the existing [Police] Women and Child Protection units.”
The students also said the judicial response to violence must improve, claiming it has “remained relatively stagnant, hence some offenders have gotten off the hook or have received minimal penalties”.
The subject of unemployment is addressed in the petition, with the students saying most violent criminals who direct their wrath at women and girls “fall into that population group which is classified as unemployed or unemployable”.
Practically, the students suggested the Ministry of Education should make good on their statements earlier this year, that schoolchildren will be supplied with transport to and from schools.

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