Man claims accidental stabbing during domestic dispute

A man accused of killing his domestic partner by stabbing her with a pair of scissors is claiming the injury that claimed his girlfriend’s life happened by accident.

Testifying in his own defence in the Windhoek High Court yesterday, Rodney Afrikaner (44) told judge Caudia Claasen that his romantic partner, Petricia Hochobes (39), was accidentally stabbed in the thigh when he and Hochobes were in a scuffle to gain control of a pair of scissors.

“I did not stab her,” Afrikaner said. “That stab wound came about as we were fighting or wrestling for the scissors.”

The injury to Hochobes’ thigh was fatal, resulting in her death due to a loss of blood.

The incident took place at the house of Afrikaner and Hochobes in the Hakahana area of Windhoek during the evening of 9 February 2019.

Afrikaner told the court he found Hochobes, her sister and another woman drinking when he returned home on the evening in question.

He said Hochobes, with whom he had three children, informed him she would not serve an evening meal to him, as he did not fetch water for their household that day.

One of the other women offered her plate of food to him, but when she passed it to him the plate slipped and the food fell on Hochobes’ head, Afrikaner said.

He testified that he apologised to Hochobes, but one of the other women accused him of not respecting women and of treating Hochobes “like a dog”, while asking him why he had thrown the food onto Hochobes’ head.

Afrikaner said Hochobes took a pair of scissors from a bag in which she kept items used for needlework.

He took the scissors from her, pushed her down onto a bed, and “then I just scratched her on the knee”, he said.

Hochobes reacted by throwing the contents of a beer glass at him, and one of the other women hit him with a broomstick, Afrikaner continued.

He said he then stabbed Hochobes in the lower part of her right leg, and she attacked him after that.

During an ensuing tussle over the scissors, Hochobes was stabbed accidentally, he said.

“I did not have the intention to stab her. If I had the intention, I would have stabbed her in the neck or upper body,” he remarked.

Medical doctor Simasiku Kabanje, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Hochobes’ body, testified on Monday that the fatal stab injury to her thigh was six centimetres deep.

Kabanje also said he observed six injuries on Hochobes’ body that had been caused by a sharp object.

A witness who was present during the incident previously told the court Afrikaner threw a plate of food at Hochobes and slapped her before he stabbed her twice with a pair of scissors.

Afrikaner’s trial is scheduled to continue on 12 November, when Claasen is due to hear closing arguments from Afrikaner, who has chosen to stand trial without legal representation, and state advocate Tangeni Iitula.

Afrikaner is being held in custody.