A WINDHOEK woman was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment this week, after she was convicted of murder over the killing of her boyfriend in the city in May 2018.
Sentencing Mercia Tsamases (35) in the Windhoek Regional Court on Wednesday, magistrate Surita Savage stressed that murder is a serious offence and deserved a sentence matching its seriousness.
The fact that Tsamases was found guilty of a murder committed in a domestic setting was aggravating, and it was inevitable to conclude that her personal circumstances do not measure up to the gravity of the crime she committed, the magistrate added.
Tsamases was convicted of having murdered her boyfriend, Zimbabwean citizen Bothwell Chimhangwa (41), in their home in Katutura, Windhoek, on 24 May 2018.
Chimhangwa was killed when he was stabbed five times with a knife. He was stabbed four times in the chest and once in his left shoulder.
Tsamases denied guilt on a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, when her trial began in July this year.
During the trial, she told the court she had been involved in a romantic relationship with Chimhangwa for about 11 years.
She said they were at home when Chimhangwa, who had been drinking, began to swear at her.
Tsamases also told the court Chimhangwa picked up a knife in the room where they were, and she tried to pull the knife out of his grip. They were both holding on to the knife when Chimhangwa fell onto his back, and she noticed he was bleeding heavily, she said.
The magistrate noted in her judgement, in which she found Tsamases guilty on Wednesday, that she confirmed she and Chimhangwa had been the only people present in the room when he was fatally injured.
Also noting that he had been stabbed five times and that a vulnerable part of his body had been targeted, Savage said the only reasonable inference that could be made from the evidence was that Tsamases intended to kill Chimhangwa when she stabbed him.
During Tsamases’ sentencing, Savage also remarked she did not doubt that on reflection Tsamases regretted the killing. That in itself was likely to add to the hardship of the 18-year prison term handed to her, the magistrate said.
Tsamases was represented by defence lawyer Koby Muyumbano. Filemon Nyau prosecuted.
