Double murder suspect not fit to stand trial

RUDOLF Taati Martin (31), the suspect in the murder of two young women from Oshakati and Okaukamasheshe village in the Oshana Region, has been declared unfit to stand trial.

Martin is accused of killing his girlfriend, Frieda Shikongo (22), on the night of July 22 this year. He is also alleged to have killed his other girlfriend two days after the first murder.It is alleged that he hacked Shikongo’s head and neck with a panga in his home in Oshakati’s Okandjengedi informal settlement. Basilia Shekesho (24), the second victim, was stabbed 27 times with a kitchen knife on July 24.Martin was arrested on July 24 and appeared in the Oshakati Magistrate’s Court on two counts of murder. During his appearances before Magistrate Helena Ekandjo he appeared mentally disturbed and the magistrate referred him to a psychiatrist at the Oshakati State Hospital.When Martin appeared in court again on November 22, the court was informed that Dr Mnubi Farahani at the Oshakati State Hospital had declared him mentally unstable and therefore not fit to stand trial.Magistrate Ekandjo postponed Martin’s case to December 31 for further psychiatric observation in Windhoek.