Court to rule on massacre suspect’s mental status

KENYA KAMBOWE The Rundu Magistrate’s Court will decide next Wednesday whether Jesaya Gabriel Chuhunda, who stands accused of killing five members of his family, is fit to be tried.Chuhunda’s mental observation report was submitted in court on Tuesday. Magistrate Barry Mufana then postponed the case to 3 September to study the report’s contents.Chuhunda is charged with five counts of murder for allegedly killing his grandmother, Ndongo Ntumba (77), his mother, Ndara Elizabeth Mpande (46), and his three nephews, Musenge Petrus Muruti (6), Hausiku Daniel Kapumburu (4) and Musenge Elias Tjingelesu (3) in July 2018.The incident happened at Rundu’s Ndama informal settlement.Preliminary reports indicated that he went on the rampage when his sister refused to give him money.The accused is alleged to have been an illegal drug user.The case has been dragging on for almost a year because the court was waiting for the outcome of Chuhunda’s psychiatric evaluation.The mental health centre at the Windhoek Central Hospital is the only facility in the country that provides forensic psychiatry.The centre has an 80-bed capacity but only 16 of the beds are allocated to forensic patients.In the wake of the Rundu massacre, two local police officers were demoted and fined N$1 500 after they were found guilty of negligence for failing to respond to the family’s pleas for help.

Court to rule on massacre suspect’s mental status

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Court to rule on massacre suspect’s mental status

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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