Okakarara: An Angolan national was denied bail by the Okakarara Magistrate's Court on Friday for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, 36-year-old Siegfriedine Tjivera Tjihenuna. The body of the victim was reportedly found on 13 May 2025, buried behind the suspect's house in a shallow grave.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the 35-year-old suspect, Lucas Hitilasha Shitaleni, appeared before Magistrate Abel Sankwasa on charges of murder, concealment of death, and defeating the course of justice. Prosecutor Nguvitjita Mujoro, who represented the State, strongly objected to the granting of bail to Shitaleni, citing the seriousness of the matter and the infant stages of the police investigations. Shitaleni, who opted to defend himself, was then remanded in custody and his case postponed to 06 August 2025.
According to the Namibian Police Force's head of community affairs in the region, Senior Inspector Maureen Mbeha, Tjihenuna was reported missing on 12 May 2025, after having last been seen between 29 April and 12 May at Okarui village in the Okakarara area. 'Her relatives reported that she was missing on 12 May 2025, and a file was opened at the Okakarara Police Station the same day,' she said.
An investigation team was formed and a search commenced. Information emerged that Tjihenuna was last seen with her boyfriend, Shitaleni, on 29 April 2025. When confronted, Shitaleni however denied having been with the deceased. 'On 13 May 2025, a team of police officers accompanied by the deceased's family members searched the victim's village and the suspect's house, where approximately 200 metres from the suspect's residence, the decomposed body of a female person buried in a shallow grave was found,' Mbeha said. Relatives identified the body as that of Tjihenuna.
Shitaleni was charged on Thursday. Hundreds of Okakarara residents on Friday handed over a petition to Prosecutor Mujoro, opposing bail for Shitaleni. They said he also has a pending stock theft case in Otjituuo. Police investigations into both matters are ongoing.