Hertta-Maria Amutenja and Niël Terblanché
Windhoek East constituency councillor, Brian Black says the government is not doing enough to curb gender-based violence (GBV).
Black made the comments following the murder of 40-year-old Delia Angelique Maasdorp, the former wife of Advocate Ramon Maasdorp.
Namibia has in recent weeks experienced an increasing number of cases of women being killed by their partners.
According to the police report, the body of the victim was discovered in her flat in the Eucalyptus complex in Eros on Sunday afternoon after a friend assisted by the police and a representative of the body corporate gained entry to the flat by opening one of the windows.
Expressing his dismay at the recent incident, Black emphasised the need for more robust governmental action to combat GBV.
“So far, in my constituency, we have been lucky when it comes to the number of GBV cases reported. We have a centre where they keep GBV victims. I am so shocked to hear about the latest incident in my constituency. I don’t think we, as the government, are doing enough to fight GBV.,” said Black.
Black further revealed that he sought assistance for a woman with a one-year-old child sleeping behind the Klein Windhoek post office recently.
Despite his efforts, he claimed he did not receive support from either the police or the gender ministry.
“I went to the police and the gender ministry’s offices, and they could not assist me with a place. Much more needs to be done,” said Black.
Concerning the latest murder incident in Windhoek, Chief Inspector Elifas Kuwinga, a member of the Namibian Police’s public relations division, said that Maasdorp’s body was found in the lounge of her flat wrapped in a blanket that was tied tightly with a length of rope.
“Blood stains were observed on one of the sofas in the lounge. Investigators also found that items such as her flat-screen television set, a laptop computer and her iPhone were missing. Her light metallic blue BMW 3 Series was also missing,” he said.
According to Kuwinga, the victim’s parents, who live in Walvis Bay, have been trying to call her since Friday. He added that her number remained unreachable.
“When they failed to get any response from their daughter by Sunday afternoon, they requested a friend of hers to go to the flat to check up on her. When the friend could not find Maasdorp she went to the police to file a missing person notice,” he said.
According to Kuwinga, officers accompanied the friend back to the flat and when they could not gain entry to Maasdopr’s home they requested a member of the complex’s body corporate to open one of the windows.
“Once inside, the officers discovered the bloodstains on one of the sofas and the body of the victim. The body was wrapped in a blanket. The blanket was tied tightly with a rope,” he said.
In the meantime, it was independently established that the police are looking for Wentzel Maasdorp, in connection with the theft of the BMW and other items missing from the victim’s flat.
A person close to the investigation confirmed that Wentzel is also wanted for questioning in connection with the murder.
According to the reports, Wentzel Maasdorp was last seen on Thursday afternoon while leaving the victim’s apartment complex in her BMW with the registration number N60737W.
A friend of Delia Maasdorp confirmed that her former husband, Advocate Ramon Maasdorp and Wentzel Maasdorp are related to each other.
Although a post-mortem examination still has to be performed on the victim to determine the time and the cause of her death, it is suspected that she has been dead since Thursday night or Friday morning.
Any person who might know the whereabouts of Wentzel Maasdorp is requested to urgently contact the Namibian Police.
In another case, Police in the Kavango East region last Friday arrested murder suspect Soares Ngonga (28), who was hiding out in Rundu after he allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend on Thursday before fleeing the scene, leaving behind their three-year-old son with a murder weapon in Kehemu.
According to the police, Ngonga stabbed his ex-girlfriend, the 21-year-old Theresia Siwombe multiple times with a knife.
The two allegedly argued over a text message on the deceased’s phone.
Ngonga made his first appearance in connection with the murder in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
