‘Drunk’ mothers suffocate babies

Police in the Omusati Region have recorded 16 cases of infants who inexplicably died of suffocation after their ‘drunk’ mothers allegedly lied on top of them while asleep.These cases were recorded during the 2022/23 financial year.This while 13 drowning cases were recorded involving minors who died after drowning in buckets of water or oshikundu, in ponds or in canals due to a lack of parental care.Omusati governor Erginus Endjala said action will be taken against careless parents or guardians.“Often, toddlers who drowned were left unattended, while their guardians/parents were out at shebeens,” he said during his state of the region address last week.According to him, the police have already started to take strong action against such parents/guardians by filing criminal charges against them.Hard at workThe region also reported 118 occurrences of unnatural deaths - including shooting, hanging, overdose, drowning, suffocation and other catastrophes.Endjala said the police remain hard at work to maintain law and order in Omusati and called on the community to work with law enforcement to keep the streets crime-free.“Crime in the region is still under control. This is due to vigilance and cooperation between residents and law enforcement agents. However, increasing assault offences and domestic violence remain a grave concern," he said.An increase in stock theft cases has been reported, particularly in the Uukolonkadhi district where stolen animals were taken into Angola, he said.Along Namibia-Angola borders, the police recorded cases of illegal immigration and smuggling of contraband goods, Endjala said.“The police are working hard to reverse these anomalies,” he noted, adding that “other criminalities increased by 10% from 4 079 offences to 4 529”.The number of assaults involving domestic violence has slightly increased to 257 incidents, while 112 rape cases were reported in the region - with the majority of the victims being children.

‘Drunk’ mothers suffocate babies

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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‘Drunk’ mothers suffocate babies

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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