No bail for suspect charged with murder of girlfriend

MURDER suspect Cyprian Mutanga, who is accused of killing his girlfriend in a public attack on a Katutura street in June, heard yesterday that his bail application had failed.

Mutanga (22), who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Rialette Twani (‘Jeanny’) de Klerk (18), in Katutura on the evening of June 5, has not managed to convince the court that he will not abscond if he is released on bail, Magistrate Cosmos Endjala ruled in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura yesterday.The Magistrate also found that it would not be in the public interest or in the interest of justice to release Mutanga on bail.Mutanga is charged with counts of murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, assault by threat and defeating or obstructing the course of justice, or attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.He told Magistrate Endjala at the start of his bail application on Thursday last week that he would plead not guilty to all charges at the start of his trial.’I didn’t commit the crime,’ was Mutanga’s response to the allegation that he murdered De Klerk.The Police officer investigating the case, Detective Constable Rocken Mutanimiye, told the Magistrate yesterday that according to eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen the fatal attack on De Klerk, Mutanga assaulted her, dragged her down the street by her one leg, kicked her and stabbed her once in the eye with a knife and twice in the ear.The Police got hold of Mutanga only on June 17, when his lawyer brought him to the detective’s office, Mutanimiye testified.In his ruling, the Magistrate said although a bail application is not a trial on the merits of the case against an accused person, there was no doubt in his mind that the prosecution has a strong case against Mutanga at this stage.Public Prosecutor Roxzaan Witbooi represented the State during the bail hearing. Marvin Katuvesirauina represented Mutanga.Mutanga has to appear in court again on February 10 2010.* With Mutanga’s surname having been misspelled as ‘Mutenga’ on the Police docket and court charge sheet of his case, the mistake was repeated in a story on his bail application that was published in The Namibian on Friday. The error is regretted.