A SCHOOLGIRL was found bleeding and fighting for her life in a Khomasdal riverbed yesterday morning. She had been raped and her throat slit.
Magdalena Stoffels, a 17-year-old Grade 11 pupil at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School, did not survive the brutal attack.
Police confirmed that the teenager died shortly after arriving at the Katutura State Hospital.
A 31-year-old man has been arrested in connection with her slaying.Magdalena was found in the Gammams river at around 09h00 by a man who spotted her lying in the bushes, her hair and school jersey tangled up and covered in grass and blood.The suspect, a resident of Katutura’s Freedomland settlement, was arrested close to the crime scene after he was allegedly seen washing blood off his clothes.After the arrest the suspect was taken to Katutura State Hospital for DNA and other related tests. A seething, angry crowd was waiting at the hospital grounds, baying for his blood.’Give him to us, we will deal with him,’ they shouted. They also demanded that the death penalty be re-introduced. This was repeated on placards they brandished: ‘death for a life’ and ‘hang him’.A heavy Police presence at the hospital did little to calm the crowd, who received assistance from hospital staff in gaining access to the hospital. The suspect, covered with a green cloth to protect his identity, was escorted to the hospital basement, from where he was bundled into a van and swiftly whisked away. The Police then came under attack for their attempts to protect the suspect. The crowd blocked the Police from leaving the premises and demanded law reform.Tears flowed freely, as some people were overcome by sheer anger and frustration at losing yet another life because of violence against women and children. For Magdalena, the day had started out as normal. She was on her way to school. She followed the route she normally did.But yesterday turned out to be no normal day.
