Gravestone Businessman accused of shooting girlfriend
OSHAKATIMERJA IILEKA
The owner of Medusalem Gravestones at Ongwediva allegedly accidentally shot his girlfriend in the back at his home last weekend.
Josua Medusalem has been charged with attempted murder and was granted bail of N$1 000 by the Oshakati Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
According to a statement Medusalem made to the police shortly after his arrest at the Ongwediva Medi-Park hospital, his girlfriend had asked him to buy her a holster for her pistol.
He was allegedly showing her how his pistol looked in his holster in an attempt to convince her to get a similar one when the pistol went off.
The bullet entered her back and exited her chest, necessitating an emergency operation at the Ongwediva Medi-Park hospital on Sunday.
Oshana Police Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa said the police have tried to get a statement from the girlfriend, whose identity the police have not revealed, but that she has chosen to remain silent.
"According to him, he was trying to show her how the gun would look in the holster. He didn't cock the gun and forgot there was a bullet. He says he does not recall exactly what happened after that, but he smelled gunpowder and heard his girlfriend say 'I have put you in a lot of trouble' before he realised she was bleeding," said Kashihakumwa.
Kashihakumwa said Medusalem told police officers that he and his girlfriend were happy and did not have an argument before the shooting.
The shooting involving Medusalem was followed just two days later by another tragic incident in the Omusati Region where a prominent businessman in Ondangwa, Eskon Shaanika, committed suicide after killing his uncle.
According to the Omusati police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Linekela Shikongo, Shaanika on Tuesday shot his uncle twice in the head at the Onkulumbu cattle post before driving to his home at Onandjo.
Once at his home, Shaanika - who owned Eskon Truck and Trailer Spares - informed family members that he had been in an altercation with his uncle and injured him.
"He told relatives that he injured his uncle, but did not say he had killed him. The relatives advised him to go and report the matter to the police and agreed to accompany him," said Shikongo.
While waiting for his aunt to join them in the car so that they could all go to the police station, relatives told the police that Shaanika left the car and walked a few metres away before turning the gun on himself.
"He shot himself in the head and died on the spot. Unfortunately, we do not know what argument led to the uncle being killed because the only two people who knew are dead," said Shikongo.
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