Woman guilty of killing newborn
Hilda Tshekupe Iita was found guilty today at the Oshakati High Court of killing her newborn son in March 2020.
Acting Judge Duard Kesslau postponed the case to next week, 14 July, for mitigation and aggravation testimony. Iita (27), gave birth on 12 March 2020 at the Oshakati State Hospital and was discharged on 13 March.
In her plea statement, which she submitted to court earlier this week, Iita explained that after she was discharged from the hospital, she returned home to the Uupindi location in Oshakati where she lived. Once there, she tried to breastfeed her newborn son, but she says she was unable to produce any milk.
She then decided to give her son, who she had named Elia Andreas, methylated spirits, which she had received from the nurses at the hospital, to clean the baby’s wound.
She said the baby stopped breathing, and the next morning she travelled to her home village with his body wrapped in a blanket. She burned the remains in her family's mahangu field, at Okeendapa village in the Otamanzi constituency in the Omusati Region.
Her aunt, who lived with Iita's family at the time, alerted the police after she noticed her niece had returned home with no baby, despite having been pregnant.
Iita said the fire did not destroy all of the remains, so she discarded the remaining parts in the grass on the mahangu field, which was later discovered by the police.
The state is represented by advocate Nelao Ya France. Iita is being represented by Petrus Grusshaber.
Acting Judge Duard Kesslau postponed the case to next week, 14 July, for mitigation and aggravation testimony. Iita (27), gave birth on 12 March 2020 at the Oshakati State Hospital and was discharged on 13 March.
In her plea statement, which she submitted to court earlier this week, Iita explained that after she was discharged from the hospital, she returned home to the Uupindi location in Oshakati where she lived. Once there, she tried to breastfeed her newborn son, but she says she was unable to produce any milk.
She then decided to give her son, who she had named Elia Andreas, methylated spirits, which she had received from the nurses at the hospital, to clean the baby’s wound.
She said the baby stopped breathing, and the next morning she travelled to her home village with his body wrapped in a blanket. She burned the remains in her family's mahangu field, at Okeendapa village in the Otamanzi constituency in the Omusati Region.
Her aunt, who lived with Iita's family at the time, alerted the police after she noticed her niece had returned home with no baby, despite having been pregnant.
Iita said the fire did not destroy all of the remains, so she discarded the remaining parts in the grass on the mahangu field, which was later discovered by the police.
The state is represented by advocate Nelao Ya France. Iita is being represented by Petrus Grusshaber.
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