Iuze Mukube
Forensic and circumstantial evidence have purportedly unearthed the involvement of an 18-year-old in a series of killings that sent shockwaves and fear among the Okahandja community last year.
Police have so far received applause from the public for their relentless efforts to hunt down the suspect/s in this matter, which resulted in a breakthrough arrest.
According to the Namibian Police Acting Inspector General Anne-Marie Nainda yesterday during a media conference, the 18-year-old has been associated in connection with the deaths of Ingrid Haylee Maasdorp (5) and Roswind Ndinelao Fabianu (7).
It is reported that Maasdorp’s body was found on 21 March 2025 near a bridge in the Veddersdal area, a day after she was reported missing from school on 20 March 2025.
Fabianu was reportedly last seen on 24 April 2025, after being dropped off at school. However, the little girl allegedly never made it to class. Her body was discovered the following day in a graveyard within the same residential area. Both girls, who were found battered and allegedly subjected to sexual assault,
were learners at KW von Marees Combined School.
Under similar circumstances, Beyonce !Kharuxas’ body was found in the bushes in the Five Rand informal area, just outside Okahandja, on 26 April 2025.
The 15-year-old girl reportedly went to a local drinking spot with friends at around 22h00 on a Friday, where she was allegedly joined by two unknown men who reportedly bought them alcohol.
!Kharuxas allegedly informed her friends that she was going to use the toilet and that was the last time they saw her. Her body was found the following day, wearing only black top, after she had allegedly been raped and murdered.
Shortly after the incident involving !Kharuxas, 11 individuals were arrested and interrogated.
In the case of Maasdorp, four people were questioned, while five were brought in for questioning in connection with Fabianu’s death. Two people were interrogated in connection with !Kharuxas’s death.
The discovery of the bodies and the deaths sparked outrage in the community last year, with residents demanding prompt investigations into murders and alleged rapes.
A petition was even signed by 977 Okahandja residents and handed over to the police, with demands of immediate action and enhanced protection for the community.
One year and six months later, an individual has finally been identified as a suspect in the killings.
The breakthrough reportedly followed an attempted rape incident that took place in Nau-Aib, a suburb in Okahandja in the Otjozondjupa region.
According to the weekend crime report, an 18-year-old male suspect was arrested on 10 October 2026 following the alleged attempted rape of an eight-year-old girl in Nau-Aib.
The suspect allegedly stopped two girls who were walking and grabbed one of them, an 8-year-old and threatened her with a knife.
Security guards, who were alerted by the other girl, apprehended the male suspect, who was allegedly found undressed and attempting to rape the girl at knifepoint.
The suspect appeared before the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court on 12 October 2026 on an attempted rape charge. He was remanded in custody without bail until 18 February 2027, Nainda said yesterday.
She further stated that on 13 October 2026, “DNA analysis confirmed a positive match between the suspect and semen recovered from the scene of Fabianu’s death in April 2025.
She added that forensic and circumstantial evidence had also linked the suspect to the death of Maasdorp.
The suspect may have appeared yesterday or is expected to appear today in the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder, rape, kidnapping and defeating the course of justice in relation to the deaths of Maasdorp and Fabianu.
Investigations, however, into the rape and death of !Kharaxus remain ongoing.
“Given the sensitive nature of these cases and the fact that investigations are ongoing, the police will not disclose specific details that could compromise the investigations, prejudice potential court proceedings,” said Nainda.
She also called on members of the public to share any information that could assist the police in investigating crimes of this nature.–imukube@nepc.com.na
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