Sschoolgirl murder case sent to Regional Court

THE young murder suspect accused of killing his alleged girlfriend, 17-year old Ipula Akwenye, in Windhoek in January last year will go on trial in the Windhoek Regional Court, he was told on Friday.

The suspect, who is accused of murdering Akwenye in Windhoek West on January 29 last year, by bashing in her head with a pick handle and large rocks, was told of the Prosecutor General’s decision when he made his eighteenth court appearance in the past almost 20 months on Friday. The PG’s decision had remained pending since August last year because the results of forensic examination requested from the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia in early February last year remained unavailable.The results have now been received, Public Prosecutor Gaynor Michaels told Magistrate Rachel Nathaniel in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on Friday.She added that the PG had decided that the suspect should be arraigned in the Windhoek Regional Court on charges of murder and defeating or obstructing the course of justice, alternatively attempting to do so.The PG has decided not to prosecute him on a charge of rape – the second count he faced, in addition to a charge of murder.The 19-year-old suspect – who was 17 years old when Akwenye was killed – has to make his first appearance in the Regional Court on November 4.He has been remanded in custody until then.The PG’s decision had remained pending since August last year because the results of forensic examination requested from the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia in early February last year remained unavailable.The results have now been received, Public Prosecutor Gaynor Michaels told Magistrate Rachel Nathaniel in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on Friday.She added that the PG had decided that the suspect should be arraigned in the Windhoek Regional Court on charges of murder and defeating or obstructing the course of justice, alternatively attempting to do so.The PG has decided not to prosecute him on a charge of rape – the second count he faced, in addition to a charge of murder.The 19-year-old suspect – who was 17 years old when Akwenye was killed – has to make his first appearance in the Regional Court on November 4.He has been remanded in custody until then.