A man accused of murdering his girlfriend at Khorixas on Christmas Eve in 2019 denied guilt on counts of murder, rape and assault in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
In a plea statement given to judge Claudia Claasen after he pleaded not guilty to the charges he is facing, Arnold Khamseb (48) claimed his girlfriend, Sylvia Gorases, stabbed herself in the neck when she fell with a knife with which she had tried to stab him.
The injury to Gorases’ neck was fatal. She died after a blood vessel in her neck was severed.
The incident took place at Gorases’ house at Khorixas on 24 December 2019.
In his plea statement, Khamseb said Gorases (46) stormed him with a knife.
“She stabbed towards me and I grabbed her on her arms and pulled or pushed her and she fell,” Khamseb stated.
“In that process, she stabbed herself.”
Khamseb added that when he grabbed Gorases and pushed or pulled her, “I was defending myself to prevent the continuing assault” by her.
The state is alleging that Khamseb murdered Gorases, with whom he had a daughter, by stabbing her in the neck.
Khamseb is also accused of stabbing someone who tried to come to Gorases’ assistance. He is facing a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm in connection with that.
The state is further alleging that Khamseb broke into a house or room at Khorixas during the early morning hours of 7 July 2018, and then raped an 11-year-old girl.
Khamseb denied guilt on a charge of housebreaking and rape in connection with that incident.
An aunt of Gorases, Christine Nanus, who lived next to Gorases, told the court yesterday that Khamseb arrived at Gorases’ house during the evening of 24 December 2019.
Nanus said she heard him saying “when sht comes, then sht just comes” after his arrival.
After Khamseb had gone around a corner to Gorases’ house, she heard Gorases crying out for help, Nanus said.
She continued that she saw Gorases’ brother wrestling with Khamseb while Gorases was lying on the ground next to a wall of her house.
Gorases was bleeding from a wound on the right side of her neck, Nanus said.
Khamseb ran away from the scene after he got out of the grip of Gorases’ brother, she also said.
The trial is continuing.
State advocate Palmer Kumalo is prosecuting.
Khamseb is being represented by legal aid lawyer Petrus Grusshaber.
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