Unam murder suspect had mental illness

THE law student accused of murdering a fellow student in a knife attack at the Windhoek campus of the University of Namibia three months ago was mentally ill at the time of the incident, a psychiatrist has concluded.

The student turned murder suspect, Johannes Medusalem Muhongo (20), made another appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Public Prosecutor Hendricks Tholiso told Magistrate Vanessa Stanley that a psychiatrist’s report on the period of psychiatric observation which the court ordered Muhongo to undergo at the start of June has been completed. On instructions from the Office of the Prosecutor General, he had to ask the court to again postpone Muhongo’s case so that the Prosecutor General can decide how Muhongo’s case would now be proceeding, Tholiso said.Muhongo is due to appear in court again on August 13. He is accused of murdering a fellow student, Johannes Tukondjeni Shapange (20), by stabbing him repeatedly with a knife on the morning of April 19.Muhongo’s defence lawyer, Nolan Swarts, said after his court appearance yesterday that a psychiatrist has found that he is suffering from schizophrenia, and that he was mentally ill at the time he allegedly committed the offence. He is now receiving treatment for his illness, Swarts said.Muhongo is remaining in custody pending his next court appearance.It is expected that his case will be transferred to the High Court for a hearing where his fate should be determined.