Okahandja out of words amid killing, rape of minors
Town's trade expo called off
The Okahandja Medical Practice has offered a N$50,000 reward for information leading to arrests, while local businessman Thomas Shako Mutilifa is offering N$20,000.
Broken. Furious. Afraid. The community of Okahandja is plunged into mourning after yet another brutal abduction, rape, and murder of one of its most vulnerable residents.
The body of six-year-old Roslin Ndinelao Fabian, a pupil at K.W. von Maree Combined School who was reported missing on Thursday, was discovered on Friday behind the cemetery in Veddersdal, following a desperate overnight search.
On Saturday, the half-naked body of 15-year-old Beyoncé !Kharuxas was found in the Vyfrandkamp settlement of Okahandja. Just a few weeks earlier, on 21 March, the broken body of five-year-old Ingrid Maasdorp, another K.W. von Maree pupil, was discovered in a tunnel near the new bridge along the B1 main road in Veddersdal.
In Roslin’s case, she had been dropped off at school as usual but reportedly never attended class. It is believed she was upset and crying because classmates had teased her for wearing casual clothes on a day when uniforms were required. Roslin turned around to walk home. According to three young witnesses, two men and a woman wearing black masks allegedly grabbed her, threatened her with a knife, and struck her on the head with a brick.
Similarly, Ingrid was dropped off at school and escorted to her classroom by a cousin. Later that day, when her family came to fetch her, she was missing. According to her grandmother, Molly Maasdorp, the family only learned after Ingrid’s disappearance that the school had closed early due to rain. A fellow pupil reported seeing Ingrid being picked up by an unknown woman—a critical piece of information that, according to Maasdorp, was initially overlooked by police because the witness was "just a small boy."
“What does it mean when the little boy says the same thing twice, exactly the same way?” Maasdorp asked, frustration clear in her voice.
Hope that Roslin would be found alive united the community. Parents, neighbours, police officers, and even strangers combed the town late into the night, only for their worst fears to be confirmed when her body was found in Veddersdal.
Grief quickly turned into anger and frustration, particularly directed at K.W. von Maree Combined School.
“What principal lets school continue when a child is missing?” one mother cried out.
“Where is the sympathy? Where is the unity?” asked another parent, with several families deciding to keep their children home until stronger safety measures are in place.
Allegations have also surfaced that two men and a woman had previously attempted to abduct another young girl near a well-known chain store in Okahandja, but the attempt failed.
In response to the tragedy, the Okahandja Medical Practice has offered a N$50,000 reward for information leading to arrests, while local businessman Thomas Shako Mutilifa added N$20,000, declaring: "As a father of two daughters, I am terrified. This barbaric behaviour must stop."
Deputy minister of education Dino Ballotti, visibly overcome with emotion during a visit to Roslin's grieving family, vowed that government would urgently act to implement stricter safety measures at schools.
Meanwhile, minister of safety and security Lucia Iipumbu declared the murders a national crisis, instructing Inspector General Joseph Shikongo to immediately deploy top investigation teams to Okahandja.
“These murders must be recognised as a national crisis and cannot be normalised,” Iipumbu stressed. She urged every school, church, and community to develop child protection policies, and called on parents to ensure children always move in groups and are never left alone.
As part of a full-scale police operation, members of the police and correctional services have been deployed to patrol Okahandja, focusing on riverbeds and other high-risk areas. Discussions are also underway with the military to bolster the presence of uniformed personnel in the town.
The Metal and Allied Workers Union and the Namibian National Teachers’ Union have meanwhile insisted that schools unable to guarantee the safety of teachers and learners should close immediately.
Following a meeting with Okahandja mayor Beatrice Kotungondo and other stakeholders, education minister Sanet Steenkamp announced plans to deploy life skills teachers and trained counsellors to K.W. von Maree Combined School to support traumatised pupils and staff. The regional education director for Otjozondjupa Gerhard Ndafenongo has been tasked with assessing the situation and consulting with school communities on safety concerns.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, accompanied by a high-level delegation including ministers Emma Kantema (gender equality and child welfare), Steenkamp, Iipumbu, Wise Immanuel (justice and labour relations), and Esperance Luvindao (health), visited Okahandja yesterday to assess the situation and discuss urgent interventions following the deaths of the three girls, two of whom were K.W. von Maree pupils.
The body of six-year-old Roslin Ndinelao Fabian, a pupil at K.W. von Maree Combined School who was reported missing on Thursday, was discovered on Friday behind the cemetery in Veddersdal, following a desperate overnight search.
On Saturday, the half-naked body of 15-year-old Beyoncé !Kharuxas was found in the Vyfrandkamp settlement of Okahandja. Just a few weeks earlier, on 21 March, the broken body of five-year-old Ingrid Maasdorp, another K.W. von Maree pupil, was discovered in a tunnel near the new bridge along the B1 main road in Veddersdal.
In Roslin’s case, she had been dropped off at school as usual but reportedly never attended class. It is believed she was upset and crying because classmates had teased her for wearing casual clothes on a day when uniforms were required. Roslin turned around to walk home. According to three young witnesses, two men and a woman wearing black masks allegedly grabbed her, threatened her with a knife, and struck her on the head with a brick.
Similarly, Ingrid was dropped off at school and escorted to her classroom by a cousin. Later that day, when her family came to fetch her, she was missing. According to her grandmother, Molly Maasdorp, the family only learned after Ingrid’s disappearance that the school had closed early due to rain. A fellow pupil reported seeing Ingrid being picked up by an unknown woman—a critical piece of information that, according to Maasdorp, was initially overlooked by police because the witness was "just a small boy."
“What does it mean when the little boy says the same thing twice, exactly the same way?” Maasdorp asked, frustration clear in her voice.
Hope that Roslin would be found alive united the community. Parents, neighbours, police officers, and even strangers combed the town late into the night, only for their worst fears to be confirmed when her body was found in Veddersdal.
Grief quickly turned into anger and frustration, particularly directed at K.W. von Maree Combined School.
“What principal lets school continue when a child is missing?” one mother cried out.
“Where is the sympathy? Where is the unity?” asked another parent, with several families deciding to keep their children home until stronger safety measures are in place.
Allegations have also surfaced that two men and a woman had previously attempted to abduct another young girl near a well-known chain store in Okahandja, but the attempt failed.
In response to the tragedy, the Okahandja Medical Practice has offered a N$50,000 reward for information leading to arrests, while local businessman Thomas Shako Mutilifa added N$20,000, declaring: "As a father of two daughters, I am terrified. This barbaric behaviour must stop."
Deputy minister of education Dino Ballotti, visibly overcome with emotion during a visit to Roslin's grieving family, vowed that government would urgently act to implement stricter safety measures at schools.
Meanwhile, minister of safety and security Lucia Iipumbu declared the murders a national crisis, instructing Inspector General Joseph Shikongo to immediately deploy top investigation teams to Okahandja.
“These murders must be recognised as a national crisis and cannot be normalised,” Iipumbu stressed. She urged every school, church, and community to develop child protection policies, and called on parents to ensure children always move in groups and are never left alone.
As part of a full-scale police operation, members of the police and correctional services have been deployed to patrol Okahandja, focusing on riverbeds and other high-risk areas. Discussions are also underway with the military to bolster the presence of uniformed personnel in the town.
The Metal and Allied Workers Union and the Namibian National Teachers’ Union have meanwhile insisted that schools unable to guarantee the safety of teachers and learners should close immediately.
Following a meeting with Okahandja mayor Beatrice Kotungondo and other stakeholders, education minister Sanet Steenkamp announced plans to deploy life skills teachers and trained counsellors to K.W. von Maree Combined School to support traumatised pupils and staff. The regional education director for Otjozondjupa Gerhard Ndafenongo has been tasked with assessing the situation and consulting with school communities on safety concerns.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, accompanied by a high-level delegation including ministers Emma Kantema (gender equality and child welfare), Steenkamp, Iipumbu, Wise Immanuel (justice and labour relations), and Esperance Luvindao (health), visited Okahandja yesterday to assess the situation and discuss urgent interventions following the deaths of the three girls, two of whom were K.W. von Maree pupils.
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