Murdered for disclosing HIV status

The state and the defence lawyers concluded arguments in the trial of Ivan Hoeseb, who in 2015 is alleged to have strangled to death his girlfriend and set her alight because she had disclosed her HIV-positive status.Hoeseb is facing multiple charges of murder, robbery, rape, violation of a dead body and an attempt to defeat or obstruct the course of justice. Hoeseb in November 2015 pleaded guilty when he appeared before the Otjiwarongo Magistrate's Court. Later however, he pleaded not guilty to the other charges but admitted murdering the 26-year-old Elizabeth Ganses. He told the court that after strangling Ganses for about 20 minutes, he had fled the scene.The partly burnt body of Ganses was found at Otjiwarongo on 3 October 2015. The police, during earlier proceedings, told the court that the accused confessed that the couple had been drinking earlier at a bar in the DRC informal settlement at Otjiwarongo, before they had sex and Hoebes had paid Ganses N$400.According to Hoeseb, the couple had sex for the second time but they fought afterwards resulting in the death of Ganses due to strangulation. It is alleged that Hoeseb raped the lifeless Ganses after removing some of her clothes and afterwards burned the body.Henry Muhongo, the state prosecutor, said the state had established the cause of Ganses's death and it was not disputed that she died in Hoeseb's hands.“The only issue to be proven is the intention to kill,” he stated.He argued that although there was big knife found next to the body of the deceased and allegations were that the accused had used it to attack the deceased, the medical report established that Ganses died of suffocation as a result of strangulation.According to him, at no point was Hoebes attacked by the deceased as he alleged, and the nature of her injuries indicated Hoeseb's intention to kill her.The defence further argued that the lower part of the deceased's body was naked, her legs were apart and there were blood spots inside her genitals, hence, an inference could be drawn that she was raped.Muhongo further argued that a mobile phone was found in Hoeseb's possession at the time of his arrest at Okaepe village in Okakarara constituency and it belonged to Ganses.“The accused had no intention to return the phone therefore he intended to steal it,” he argued.He said the accused had set the body of Ganses alight to so that the deceased could not be identified.“He knew he killed her and tried to destroy the evidence to obstruct the course of justice,” Muhongo told the court.The prosecution further said the evidence given by Hoebes was not credible and according to Muhongo, Hoebes is not a satisfactory witness.“The accused's version that he cohabitated with the deceased as well as having a sexual relationship with her is not true,” he said emphasising the fact that the accused is not truthful.Hoeseb has several pending criminal cases of rape, robbery, housebreaking, theft and illegal possession of a firearm. These cases date back to 2012 and while he was on bail for one of the cases he allegedly committed in 2014, he committed the pending murder offence.Judge Christie Liebenberg postponed the case to 10 August for judgment. Norman Engelbrecht is defending Hoeseb. FRED GOEIEMAN

Murdered for disclosing HIV status

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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Murdered for disclosing HIV status

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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