Mother, daughter murdered at Ovitoto

A TROUBLED relationship ended in tragedy at Ovitoto last week, when a 38-year-old man fatally shot both his girlfriend and her mother with a hunting rifle.

The incident happened at the mother’s home at Okandjilla Post early on Thursday morning.According to community members, Paulina Kenamuni (28) used to live with her boyfriend and now double murder suspect, Julius ‘Namab’ Dausab, at Otjiwarongo. She recently left him and moved in with her mother at Ovitoto.Dausab drove to his girlfriend’s parents’ home on Wednesday in an apparent attempt at reconciliation.However, by daybreak on Thursday this home was a cordoned-off murder scene, and Dauseb was arrested at Otjiwarongo as soon as he arrived back at the town.A traditional leader in the Ovitoto area, Chief Vipuira Kapuuo, yesterday relayed that the family welcomed Dausab to their home on Wednesday night, but nonetheless confronted him over his alleged physical abuse of their daughter.The night ended with the mother joining her husband and four children in the family’s shack home, while the reconciled lovers retreated to Dausab’s bakkie parked next to it.At around midnight, the family said, Dausab knocked at the door of the shack, and his girlfriend’s mother went to the door to hear what the matter was.At this point, Dausab allegedly pointed the barrel of a .308 hunting rifle through a hole in the door and shot the woman in the chest.It was later discovered that the younger Paulina Kenamuni had at this time already been shot with the same gun, and that she had also been severely beaten.’It hasn’t been confirmed, but we suspect that he must have shot her through a pillow or through the blankets because no one seemed to hear him shoot her,’ Kapuuo told The Namibian yesterday.Dausab then apparently asked Kenamuni’s father to help him push-start his bakkie .’He told him to come out, that he wouldn’t shoot him. Maybe he only had two rounds in the gun,’ Kapuuo said.After Dausab’s exit from the scene, the family said they immediately reported the incident to the Police , who were unable to assist.’The Police first said they didn’t have a car. Then when we asked them to phone the Okahandja station, the officers didn’t have any credit on their cellphones,’ Kapuuo said.Neighbours eventually phoned the Police at Okahandja and Otjiwarongo, who shortly after caught the suspect just as he entered Otjiwarongo.Dausab made his first court appearance in the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where he was denied bail.His next court date is scheduled for August 3.Kapuuo said yesterday that the community has held a number of meetings over the weekend to protest Thursday’s incident and to look for solutions to the problems they faced with the Police on the night.’We’ve appealed to the community to be on the lookout for cars they don’t know. I spoke to the men in the community about our role of protectors over women and children. We honestly don’t ever want to see something like this happen again,’ Kapuuo said.The meetings also served as a platform to solicit goodwill from community members, who contributed to funeral costs for the two women.denver@namibian.com.na