Still no leads in Rundu child murder case, family unhappy

THE Police have made no headway in tracking down the killers of an 11-year-old Rundu boy, who was kidnapped near his school and sodomised before his body was left in the veld near the town’s military base six weeks ago.

Angered by the Police’s handling of the case, the family plans to send a letter of complaint to the Minister of Safety and Security this week. They allege that the Police have not been doing enough to track down those they suspect to be involved in the slaying of Petrus Biyete.Biyete was a Grade 4 pupil at the Rundu Junior Primary School last year and, according to friends who were walking home with him on November 29, was approached by three men and a woman who asked him to go with them.A family spokesperson, Selestenus Shikerete, said from information obtained from the other children, they believe that two of the men and the woman were from Botswana, while the other man lived at Kahemu Settlement in Rundu, near the victim.”We need a proper investigation so that these people can be arrested,” said Shikerete.”If they know who this man is, they must arrest him”.At the time of Biyete’s death, the family believed that his was a muti killing but an autopsy did not reveal that any of his body parts had been removed.The Kavango Regional Police Commander, Olavi Auanga, told The Namibian yesterday that the Police were still investigating the case and that no arrests had yet been made.He could not say how many suspects the Police were looking for and said the Police had made a public appeal for information that would lead to the arrests of any suspects.”We don’t have any clue that will tell us who these people are.All we know is that he was picked up in a white car,” he said.According to Shikerete, Biyete’s friends said the car in which he was driven away had a Botswana registration plate.Biyete’s body was found three days after his kidnapping by a cattle herder in the veld south of the Grootfontein-Rundu road near the turn-off to Nkurenkuru.He was last seen alive on the day of his kidnapping in the OK Foods Store in the company of his kidnappers.Findings from the post-mortem indicated that Biyete might have been killed by a blow to the head with an unknown object.He had been sodomised and condoms were found at the crime scene.The family has alleged that the Police only went to retrieve Biyete’s body a day after its discovery had been reported, and had not properly analysed the scene.Auanga has denied claims that the Police had not acted promptly on the case.Biyete was the eldest of two boys and walked about a kilometre to and from school every day.They allege that the Police have not been doing enough to track down those they suspect to be involved in the slaying of Petrus Biyete.Biyete was a Grade 4 pupil at the Rundu Junior Primary School last year and, according to friends who were walking home with him on November 29, was approached by three men and a woman who asked him to go with them.A family spokesperson, Selestenus Shikerete, said from information obtained from the other children, they believe that two of the men and the woman were from Botswana, while the other man lived at Kahemu Settlement in Rundu, near the victim.”We need a proper investigation so that these people can be arrested,” said Shikerete.”If they know who this man is, they must arrest him”.At the time of Biyete’s death, the family believed that his was a muti killing but an autopsy did not reveal that any of his body parts had been removed.The Kavango Regional Police Commander, Olavi Auanga, told The Namibian yesterday that the Police were still investigating the case and that no arrests had yet been made.He could not say how many suspects the Police were looking for and said the Police had made a public appeal for information that would lead to the arrests of any suspects.”We don’t have any clue that will tell us who these people are.All we know is that he was picked up in a white car,” he said.According to Shikerete, Biyete’s friends said the car in which he was driven away had a Botswana registration plate.Biyete’s body was found three days after his kidnapping by a cattle herder in the veld south of the Grootfontein-Rundu road near the turn-off to Nkurenkuru.He was last seen alive on the day of his kidnapping in the OK Foods Store in the company of his kidnappers.Findings from the post-mortem indicated that Biyete might have been killed by a blow to the head with an unknown object.He had been sodomised and condoms were found at the crime scene.The family has alleged that the Police only went to retrieve Biyete’s body a day after its discovery had been reported, and had not properly analysed the scene.Auanga has denied claims that the Police had not acted promptly on the case.Biyete was the eldest of two boys and walked about a kilometre to and from school every day.