Police rescue abandoned baby

POLICE in Windhoek rescued a one-year-old baby left by its mother in a shack in Havana informal settlement.

Some concerned neighbours alerted the police on Monday about the baby who was found in a malnourished state.

could not, however, establish how long the baby had been left alone without food and water.

Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi said the mother was later found in the same location but in a worse condition.

Shikwambi said both the mother and the baby are admitted at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital.

“It is premature to say that she will be arrested due to the psychological problems she might have due to the state she was found in,” she said.

In a separate incident, unidentified suspects attacked a security guard at the Goreangab Dam recreation park in Windhoek on Friday night.

Matheus Pulata (31) was on duty at the time when five to six suspects approached him. One of the suspects, who was armed with a pistol, allegedly shot Pulata on the left thigh and stabbed him with an unknown object on the right ear.

The suspects left with the guard’s service firearm.

Pulata was found in a state of shock and was admitted at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital for treatment. No arrests and recovery have been made, a Namibian Police report stated yesterday.

In a separate incident, a 26-year-old was shot by a security guard at the Park Foods shopping complex in Khomasdal on Friday evening.

It is alleged that the victim was under the influence of alcohol and was throwing stones at the security guard, who was on duty.

The police report said the security guard ordered the victim to leave the premises, but the situation escalated, resulting in the suspect shooting and wounding the victim.

The police were called to normalise the situation, but upon arrival found that the victim was already wounded. He was taken to the Katutura Intermediate Hospital by ambulance and is reportedly in a stable condition. No arrest was made.

A 61-year-old Namibian male contractor was also robbed at gunpoint by three unknown men wearing balaclavas on Saturday night at the Fysal Flats in Oshakati East.

The victim was robbed of his wallet containing an amount of N$7 400, one shotgun, two Nokia cellphones, one iPhone, and a bag of cosmetics. All items together are valued at N$14 400.

The three suspects broke into the victim’s flat through a window and demanded the items from him.

None of the stolen items was recovered, and no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, a toddler was found unattended in a shack in the Havana informal settlement in Windhoek on Monday morning.

Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi said the neighbours alerted the police that the mother allegedly often leaves the one-year-old unattended.

The police were dispatched to the scene, where they found the baby on the bed in a malnourished state.

Shikwambi added that the police soon found the mother in an equally bad condition, and both were taken to the Katutura Intermediate Hospital for medical treatment.

“It is premature to say that she will be arrested due to the psychological problems she might have due to the state she was found in,” she explained.

In another incident, four suspects were arrested at the Namib Naukluft Park at Walvis Bay after they allegedly poached five mountain zebras valued at N$18 400. The carcasses were recovered.

The suspects, aged 36, 25, 19 and 17, made their first court appearance on Monday in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court.

Three suicides were also reported over the weekend. In the first incident, Stefanus Boois (26) was discovered hanging from a rope on a tree in his backyard on Sunday morning at Rehoboth.

Daniel Jacobs hanged himself with a belt in his shack where he stayed alone on Saturday afternoon in the DRC location of Swakopmund.

No suicide note was left behind, and his body was taken to the mortuary for a post-mortem to be conducted.

A 24-year-old male hanged himself with his trousers on the burglar bars of a window on Saturday at the psychiatric centre at the Windhoek Central Hospital.