THE family of a 23-year-old woman who was killed, allegedly raped and whose body was mutilated in the Dordabis area last week, is pleading for the return of her missing body parts.
Lydia Garises, a mother of three, was last seen alive at a wedding celebration on Saturday, 11 December.
On Monday, 13 December, her body was found in a mountainous area at the farm Stinkwater near Dordabis.
Garises’ mother, Katrina Garises, says her heart is completely broken by the death of her daughter, and what makes it worse is the fact that her body was cut into pieces and some of her private parts are missing.
“My daughter is not an animal and she does not deserve the brutal act that was carried out against her,” said Garises on Friday. “Please bring back her body parts so she rests in peace.”
A fellow resident of Stinkwater, Herold Uirab (32), was arrested in connection with Garises’ death last Tuesday.
He made his first appearance in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder and rape on Thursday.
Uirab is being held in custody, after magistrate Niinja Hochobes postponed the case to 22 February for further investigation.
In the aftermath of Garises’ death, the community of Stinkwater held a public protest on Friday, in which they marched from her house to the place where her body was discovered.
During the demonstration, community members handed out a petition demanding justice for Garises and all women who have been victims of gender-based violence (GBV).
In the petition they say “this heartless deed” cannot be allowed to go unnoticed.
The community demanded that Uirab be kept in police custody and not be granted bail.
They also say the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Child Welfare must initiate programmes to help women to deal with GBV.
Imelda Hochobes, a friend of Garises’, identified her body and says they had been cut into pieces. Except for her hairstyle, a tattoo on her leg and the clothes she was wearing, Garises was unidentifiable.
Hochobes says the lack of electricity at Stinkwater increases crime.
“We have a car that we suspect drives from Windhoek into our area, but whenever it comes here the driver switches its lights off and it is driven in the area suspiciously,” she says.
“This makes us very terrified, especially for women, because our lives are at risk and for that we do not feel safe any longer. Lydia was murdered like an animal. Who is next?”
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