A man who admitted last week that he murdered his two-year-old son at Otavi about two years ago should be sentenced to life imprisonment, a prosecutor has suggested in the Windhoek High Court.
The brutal manner in which the life of Jason Sebulon Muronga (2) was taken is “extremely aggravating”, state advocate Beata Hamunyela said while addressing judge Claudia Claasen on Friday on the sentence that is to be imposed on the boy’s killer: his father, Thomas Muronga.
Muronga (30) pleaded guilty to a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, a count of assault by threat and a charge of assault on a member of the Namibian Police in the execution of his duties on Tuesday last week.
He admitted that he murdered Jason at Otavi on 25 August 2023, on the same day threatened to kill the boy’s mother while he was armed with a knife, and that he assaulted a police sergeant by cutting him with a knife while he was being body-searched on his arrest.
Jason was brutally killed when Muronga took him by his legs and hit his head against a concrete pillar.
The boy died as a result of head injuries.
In a plea statement given to the court, Muronga said he killed his son after a disagreement between him and the boy’s mother.
Addressing the judge during a presentence hearing on Friday, defence lawyer Filemon Vahongaifa said Muronga was intoxicated and infuriated when he committed the murder.
Vahongaifa said Muronga approached his son’s mother with good intentions on the day of the fatal incident, intending to give money to her for their child, but he and the mother then had a disagreement and she told him he was not Jason’s father.
Under normal circumstances, Muronga would not have committed such a crime, Vahongaifa said.
“It pains him,” Vahongaifa said about Muronga’s feelings about the murder.
Jason’s mother, Julien Gamibes, told the court on Tuesday that her son was a playful and friendly child.
Jason sometimes stayed with his father, who treated him well before the fatal incident, and he loved his father a lot, Gamibes said.
She also said Muronga contacted her by telephone after his arrest, apologised to her and asked her to forgive him.
Muronga was employed by a milling company at Otavi before the incident, the court was informed.
Hamunyela said the court cannot lose sight of the fact that Jason died for no reason.
“We can imagine the horror of this boy, being grabbed by his father and hit against a concrete pillar,” she remarked. “We can imagine that – the fear, the helplessness.”
Hamunyela suggested that Muronga be sentenced to life imprisonment on the murder charge – a sentence which will give him an opportunity to be released on parole after 25 years in prison, she said.
Vahongaifa proposed a prison term of 25 years on the murder charge.
Claasen postponed Muronga’s sentencing to 2 December.
Muronga has been held in custody since his arrest on 25 August 2023.
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