Child murder trial postponed to March

THE trial of a Kavango Region resident who is accused of murde-ring two of his children almost three years ago has been postponed until early next month.

Herbert Cimu Nkasi (38), who went on trial in the High Court at Oshakati on February 12, is being accused of having murdered his two daughters, trying to kill his wife, and having been found with a shotgun and ammunition without the required licence to possess the firearm.At the start of his trial before Judge Christie Liebenberg, Nkasi pleaded not guilty on both murder charges, on a count of attempted murder, and on a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, or attempting to do so. He pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence.Nkasi is accused of having beaten his six-year-old daughter, Nasira Nkasi, to death at Ncumnca, a village in the Nkurenkuru area, during April 2007. After she had died, he allegedly buried her at the same village in an attempt to hide evidence of the assault on her and evade being prosecuted in connection with her death.He is also accused of having murdered his one-year-old daughter, Sigcende Nkasi, through a shooting that took place at Nkulivere, a village southwest of Nkurenkuru, on May 9 2007.The prosecution is charging that Nkasi fired a shot at his wife, Kasiku Sirkka Nokwa, while she had the child in her arms. The child was struck in the abdomen, and died the next day at Rundu State Hospital.In a plea explanation that Nkasi gave at the start of his trial, he denied having murdered any of the two children. He admitted having beaten Nasira Nkasi with a stick, but claimed this was done to chastise her.Nkasi also claimed he buried his daughter after he got permission from the village headman to bury her at Ncumnca.On the second murder charge and the count of attempted murder, Nkasi claimed he was firing a shot at dogs that wanted to bite him when Nokwa emerged from the bushes and walked into the line of fire while carrying their child in her arms.Nkasi’s trial has now been postponed to March 8, after his lawyer, Frieda Kishi, asked Judge Liebenberg for the postponement because she wants to get a pathologist and firearm experts to testify in the trial.State advocate Neville Wamambo and Judge Liebenberg agreed to the postponement, and the trial is scheduled to proceed from March 8 to 12.