Gruesome child murder: Community living in fear

THE Rundu community has been gripped by fear and anger over the murder of an 11-year-old boy, Petrus Toto Biyete, who was kidnapped and found murdered in the bush at Sekanduko, near the Rundu Military Base.

He had been sodomised and was tied to a tree with a rope, some three kilometres south of the Grootfontein-Rundu road near the turnoff to Nkurenkuru. Biyete’s body was found by a cattle herder three days after he was kidnapped on November 29.The family firmly believe that boy’s death was a muti killing.According to them, when they viewed the boy’s body, they saw that both eyes, the tongue and brain had been removed.A Grade Four pupil at the Rundu Junior Primary School, Biyete was walking home from school with two friends when he was approached by two men who asked him to go with them to catch a guineafowl.A family spokesperson, Selestenus Shikerete, described Biyete as a good boy who liked to play ball in the streets with his friends.He was often seen fetching water for his household at the Kahemu informal settlement and going to buy groceries with his mother on a Saturday morning.According to the family, Biyete was last seen alive in the OK Foods shop with three men believed to be his killers, after he left his two friends on the road home from school.The Kavango Regional Police Commander, Chief Inspector Olavi Auanga, said the post-mortem report did not show that Biyete’s murder was a muti killing and that it might have appeared that way because the body had already started decomposing by the time it was found.”The autopsy done in Windhoek did not show that any (body) part had been removed.Even I looked at the body as an experienced Police officer and nothing was removed,” Auanga told The Namibian.He said the Police were treating the case as a kidnapping and murder.Nobody has been arrested.APPEAL FOR CALM Auanga appealed for calm and said there was no reason for the community to panic.In the first week of this year, an elderly woman’s body was found floating in the Kavango River.Her head had been severed and she was believed to have been killed for muti.”There is nothing to panic about.If people observe anything strange, they should approach the Police.Things are under control,” Auanga said.Findings from the post-mortem revealed that Biyete might have been killed by a blow to the head with an unknown object, he said.Auanga confirmed that the boy had been sodomised and that condoms were found at the scene where his body had been discovered.Shikerete told The Namibian yesterday that they were unhappy with the manner in which the Police had handled the discovery of Biyete’s body on December 2 and the treatment of the scene.He claimed that they only went to collect the body a day after it was found.Shikerete said the family found a knife at the scene when they went there to erect a cross after the body had been removed.The family are convinced that the knife was used to cut out the tongue and gouge out the eyes.The family further allege that the Police failed to inform them of the discovery of their child, despite them having reported him missing days earlier.FAMILY UNHAPPY Shikerete said word of the discovery had filtered through the community via hospital and morgue workers and thereafter the parents went to identify their son.They plan to write to the Minister of Safety and Security to bring to his attention their experiences of how the case had been handled by the Police, saying it had been treated as if it were a “burden” to them.”We are unhappy that the Police are not taking action.They didn’t even come to the family to tell them their son had been found.People are unhappy with the Police officers’ undisciplined behaviour,” charged Shikerete.”We want the Minister to intervene to make sure everybody is protected because the Police are not doing their work properly”.Auanga denied claims that the Police had been sluggish to act on the case.He said because the area had a history of killings for body parts to be used in traditional medicine, people had jumped to conclusions that this was the case with Biyete.He said that so far the investigation had not revealed any evidence that the boy had been killed for this purpose.”We have no reason to deny if any parts were removed.The person has been murdered straightforward.All that they [family and residents] are alleging is false.We have no reason to deny or hide [information around the death].It doesn’t make sense for us [to do that],” said Auanga.Auanga said he believed that the boy might have been killed after the rapists feared that their identity could be revealed.He appealed to anybody with information to come forward and tell the Police.In protest against the killing, demonstrators on Friday marched to the site where Biyete’s body was found and demanded that law enforcement agencies bring the culprits to book immediately.His coffin was carried from the morgue to his parents’ house, the church and on to Sarusungu cemetery where he was buried on Saturday, in protest against the killing of innocent children.”He was taken away by a car, and we didn’t want him to be taken away by a car again,” said Shikerete.One of the suspects, who drove a car with a Botswana registration plate, used to live at the Kahemu informal settlement, but has not been seen since the news of Biyete’s death.Biyete was the eldest of two boys.He walked about a kilometre between home and school every day.”His friends are very scared.One boy has already gone to live with his father in Grootfontein,” said Shikerete.”People are very scared for their children.They do not feel safe and protected.”Auanga would not reveal how many suspects the Police were pursuing, or give their names, but said the Police were working tirelessly to apprehend those responsible.Biyete’s body was found by a cattle herder three days after he was kidnapped on November 29.The family firmly believe that boy’s death was a muti killing.According to them, when they viewed the boy’s body, they saw that both eyes, the tongue and brain had been removed.A Grade Four pupil at the Rundu Junior Primary School, Biyete was walking home from school with two friends when he was approached by two men who asked him to go with them to catch a guineafowl.A family spokesperson, Selestenus Shikerete, described Biyete as a good boy who liked to play ball in the streets with his friends.He was often seen fetching water for his household at the Kahemu informal settlement and going to buy groceries with his mother on a Saturday morning.According to the family, Biyete was last seen alive in the OK Foods shop with three men believed to be his killers, after he left his two friends on the road home from school.The Kavango Regional Police Commander, Chief Inspector Olavi Auanga, said the post-mortem report did not show that Biyete’s murder was a muti killing and that it might have appeared that way because the body had already started decomposing by the time it was found. “The autopsy done in Windhoek did not show that any (body) part had been removed.Even I looked at the body as an experienced Police officer and nothing was removed,” Auanga told The Namibian.He said the Police were treating the case as a kidnapping and murder.Nobody has been arrested.APPEAL FOR CALM Auanga appealed for calm and said there was no reason for the community to panic.In the first week of this year, an elderly woman’s body was found floating in the Kavango River.Her head had been severed and she was believed to have been killed for muti.”There is nothing to panic about.If people observe anything strange, they should approach the Police.Things are under control,” Auanga said.Findings from the post-mortem revealed that Biyete might have been killed by a blow to the head with an unknown object, he said.Auanga confirmed that the boy had been sodomised and that condoms were found at the scene where his body had been discovered.Shikerete told The Namibian yesterday that they were unhappy with the manner in which the Police had handled the discovery of Biyete’s body on December 2 and the treatment of the scene.He claimed that they only went to collect the body a day after it was found.Shikerete said the family found a knife at the scene when they went there to erect a cross after the body had been removed.The family are convinced that the knife was used to cut out the tongue and gouge out the eyes.The family further allege that the Police failed to inform them of the discovery of their child, despite them having reported him missing days earlier.FAMILY UNHAPPY Shikerete said word of the discovery had filtered through the community via hospital and morgue workers and thereafter the parents went to identify their son.They plan to write to the Minister of Safety and Security to bring to his attention their experiences of how the case had been handled by the Police, saying it had been treated as if it were a “burden” to them.”We are unhappy that the Police are not taking action.They didn’t even come to the family to tell them their son had been found.People are unhappy with the Police officers’ undisciplined behaviour,” charged Shikerete.”We want the Minister to intervene to make sure everybody is protected because the Police are not doing their work properly”.Auanga denied claims that the Police had been sluggish to act on the case.He said because the area had a history of killings for body parts to be used in traditional medicine, people had jumped to conclusions that this was the case with Biyete.He said that so far the investigation had not revealed any evidence that the boy had been killed for this purpose.”We have no reason to deny if any parts were removed.The person has been murdered straightforward.All that they [family and residents] are alleging is false.We have no reason to deny or hide [information around the death].It doesn’t make sense for us [to do that],” said Auanga.Auanga said he believed that the boy might have been killed after the rapists feared that their identity could be revealed.He appealed to anybody with information to come forward and tell the Police.In protest against the killing, demonstrators on Friday marched to the site where Biyete’s body was found and demanded that law enforcement agencies bring the culprits to book immediately.His coffin was carried from the morgue to his parents’ house, the church and on to Sarusungu cemetery where he was buried on Saturday, in protest against the killing of innocent children.”He was taken away by a car, and we didn’t want him to be taken away by a car again,” said Shikerete.One of the suspects, who drove a car with a Botswana registration plate, used to live at the Kahemu informal settlement, but has not been seen since the news of Biyete’s death.Biyete was the eldest of two boys.He walked about a kilometre between home and school every day.”His friends are very scared.One boy has already gone to live with his father in Grootfontein,” said Shikerete.”People are very scared for their children.They do not feel safe and protected.”Auanga would not reveal how many suspects the Police were pursuing, or give their names, but said the Police were working tirelessly to apprehend those responsible.