An Omaheke region resident convicted of murder after he carried out a fatal assault on his pregnant girlfriend has been sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment at the end of his trial in the High Court.
Namibia has experienced widespread outrage about murders committed in domestic settings, judge Dinnah Usiku said during the sentencing of Jacobus Gawaseb (29) in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility on Wednesday.
“Our courts cannot therefore turn a blind eye to such outrage, otherwise they risk encouraging a breakdown of law and order and communities taking the law into their own hands,” Usiku said before she sentenced Gawaseb to a prison term of 22 years on a charge of murder.
Gawaseb was also sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on a charge of malicious damage to property, with that sentence ordered to be served concurrently with the sentence on the murder count.
Gawaseb admitted during his trial that he assaulted his then-girlfriend, Fransiska Naobes (24), in the Epako area of Gobabis during the night of 2 to 3 March 2023.
Gawaseb said in a plea statement that he assaulted Naobes, who was pregnant at the time, with a knobkierie and with his fists, and admitted that he knew the assault could cause her death.
He admitted that his actions caused Naobes’ death.
However, he did not admit that he had a direct intention to kill Naobes, who died in a hospital in Windhoek on 19 April 2023. Naobes died as a result of head injuries.
The baby with which Naobes was pregnant was born prematurely on 7 April 2023, while Naobes was in hospital.
The baby was placed in the care of a family member of her mother, but later died due to malnutrition, the court was informed during Gawaseb’s trial.
Usiku found Gawaseb guilty of murder, committed with a direct intention to kill, near the end of June this year.
During his sentencing, Usiku said Gawaseb has shown “real remorse” for his conduct, and noted that he has spent more than three years in custody awaiting the conclusion of his trial.
Murder is a serious crime, and the fatal assault on Naobes “was committed in the most brutal manner”, Usiku said.
Had Naobes not died as a result of the assault on her, her baby might have survived as well, she said.
She said the assault on Naobes was committed after Gawaseb had heard a rumour that he was not the father of the unborn baby with which Naobes was pregnant at the time.
The court was informed that Gawaseb was employed as a farmworker before his arrest in March 2023.
Naobes was the mother of three children, including the baby born shortly before her death.
Defence lawyer Melissa Windisch represented Gawaseb during his trial.
State advocate Sakaria Mupuma represented the prosecution.
