Anger at court after Keetmans killing

POLICE at Keetmanshoop had to call in reinforcements yesterday to protect two men accused of murder from an angry mob of protesters.

Albertus Cloete (32) and Quinton Pieters (26) made a brief appearance in the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murdering Karas Regional Education office employee Rachel Magda Maas (55). A friend found Maas’s body in her house in a pool of blood on Saturday.It is suspected that Maas was hit on the head with a hammer and strangled afterwards with a piece of cloth.According to Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi, Maas was baking when the suspects entered the house through an unlocked door.Magistrate PB Christiaans postponed the murder case to February 8 for further Police investigation and to allow the suspects to obtain legal representation.The two were denied bail.State Prosecutor Billy Lutaka opposed bail because of other pending criminal cases against the suspects.Pieters had been out on bail on a charge of attempted rape, Deputy Commissioner Josephat Abel told The Namibian on Sunday.Cloete denied having any pending cases against him.The town’s residents, brandishing placards condemning the murder, protested outside the court.They demanded stiffer sentences for murderers and rapists.After the accused left the courtroom, protectors blocking the main entrance to the Magistrate’s Court demanded to see their faces.Addressing the protesters, Chief Magistrate Alweendo Venasius expressed shock over the murder.”We hear your outcry and the judicial system will try its utmost best to deal with the criminals committing these sorts of crimes,” Venasius said.He urged residents to refrain from alcohol abuse because it contributed to most violent crimes.A friend found Maas’s body in her house in a pool of blood on Saturday.It is suspected that Maas was hit on the head with a hammer and strangled afterwards with a piece of cloth.According to Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi, Maas was baking when the suspects entered the house through an unlocked door.Magistrate PB Christiaans postponed the murder case to February 8 for further Police investigation and to allow the suspects to obtain legal representation.The two were denied bail.State Prosecutor Billy Lutaka opposed bail because of other pending criminal cases against the suspects.Pieters had been out on bail on a charge of attempted rape, Deputy Commissioner Josephat Abel told The Namibian on Sunday. Cloete denied having any pending cases against him.The town’s residents, brandishing placards condemning the murder, protested outside the court.They demanded stiffer sentences for murderers and rapists.After the accused left the courtroom, protectors blocking the main entrance to the Magistrate’s Court demanded to see their faces.Addressing the protesters, Chief Magistrate Alweendo Venasius expressed shock over the murder.”We hear your outcry and the judicial system will try its utmost best to deal with the criminals committing these sorts of crimes,” Venasius said.He urged residents to refrain from alcohol abuse because it contributed to most violent crimes.