Nanny acquitted

JACQUELINE LOUW

On Monday, Windhoek Regional Court Magistrate Ileni Velikoshi acquitted Magdalena Naris, 30, who was accused of killing her charge, one-year-old Hope Uhongora.

Last week, counsel for Naris, Max Lameck, approached the court for an acquittal under the Criminal Procedure Act, saying that the evidence against his client was not substantial enough to prove the charges against her.

Magistrate Velikoshi agreed.

At the start of the trial on 15 June, Naris pleaded not guilty to the charge of the murder. She was accused of killing baby Hope on 22 February 2015 in his grandmother’s house in Khomasdal.

Naris was Hope’s nanny and took care of him and others on that fateful day.

According to the post-mortem findings, baby Hope died from a ruptured liver. The injury was caused by blunt-force trauma, such as the child being hit, which fractured the cartilage in his ribcage.

Hope’s mother, Emily Muundjua, testified that she found Hope at his grandmother’s house on the day he died. She told the court he was wrapped in a blanket on the floor of the lounge but his breathing was not normal.

She said she had taken her baby to lie with her on a bed but he was crying intermittently. She further testified that she realised he was dying because his pulse was becoming weaker.

Hope was admitted to the Katutura State Hospital and died shortly thereafter. He was 15 months old.