Cheryl's murder unique - Ndeitunga

The dismemberment of murder victims is uncommon in Namibia, except for murders committed by the so-called B1 Butcher and Cheryl Avihe Ujaha's recent murder, police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga said yesterday.

Cheryl went missing from her home on 26 August and her dismembered body was discovered two days later in a riverbed in Katutura.

“This is a unique incident in Namibia and most children that have been gone missing have been found,” Ndeitunga said.

“We do not need to create the impression that the situation is out of control.”

But he said after Cheryl's murder, and a recent attempted kidnapping of a four-year-old boy at the U-Save supermarket in Dorado Park, the police were worried about a trend suggesting society might be heading in the wrong direction.

This is especially so if the culprits are not identified, detected and prosecuted.

Ndeitunga also stressed the importance of parents being responsible, in terms of knowing where their children are.

He said there was a lot of child negligence, which resulted in children going missing.

He said this week a four-year-old child was reported missing in the Uis district, but was found the following day.

Ndeitunga said he instructed that the mother should be charged with child neglect.

“This is the problem; the parents are sending young children of four and five years old to herd cattle and then they get lost. That is abuse. I know that it is our culture, but that is too young and this is why children go missing.”

Ndeitunga said the police are also very concerned about the current attitude of communities that do not want to get involved in identifying suspects or informing the authorities about what they have seen or heard.

“I am sure that someone out there may have seen or heard what happened to Ujaha, but is reluctant to come forward and assist the police in solving this and other unsolved, heinous crimes.”

Elaborating on the circumstances surrounding Cheryl's murder, Ndeitunga said she was left at home by her mother, who visited a neighbour on 26 August.

“It is not known how she left the house, but it was determined that before Cheryl left she informed an older girl also residing on the same premises that she was going out quickly, but would return soon.”

Ndeitunga said she headed in a direction where she normally played and it is presumed she was lured to a different area.

According to him, she was last seen at approximately 13:00 by a neighbour standing on the corner of Romeine Street and Bishop PKD Tjijombo Street in Katutura.

When she did not return home, the matter was reported to the Katutura police station at approximately 20:00. The police and the family made various efforts to trace her, without any success.

On 28 August at approximately 07:30 her dismembered body was discovered in a riverbed.

Ndeitunga said the police assembled an investigation team that was working relentlessly to trace and apprehend the perpetrator(s) of this gruesome crime.

He said her body was not boiled, as had been reported earlier, but added that “marks” were found on the body along with some sort of substance that still had to be analysed.



Huge reward

Meanwhile, the reward for information on Cheryl's murder has been increased to N$100 000.

Ndeitunga announced yesterday the Ohlthaver and List (O&L) Group had pledged a large amount of money to increase the reward to N$100 000, including funding for the establishment of the Namibian Police Force Children's Protection Fund.

ELLANIE SMIT