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FAMILY and friends are reeling in shock following the rape and murder of 80-year-old Elina Samuel at Omuthiya’s Omainda village last Wednesday.
“It is alleged that the suspect attacked the victim with a panga and raped her,” police spokesperson chief inspector Elifas Kuwinga says.
Samuel was reportedly cutting branches to put on top of a boundary fence as extra security just a few metres from her house at the time. She died on the spot and was found in a pool of blood after the police were informed by one of her granddaughters. She had three cut wounds on the head, and her face was swollen, Kuwinga says.
The deceased’s granddaughter, aged four, witnessed a man attacking Samuel and fleeing the scene, says Kuwinga.
The suspect is unknown and investigations are continuing.
Samuel lived in the district since 1989, after moving from the Onayena constituency.
Family and friends on Saturday gathered at the pensioner’s residence to console the bereaved family.
Selma Shaanika (42), Samuel’s niece, says it was around midday when she received the shocking news of the death of her aunt.
The news has taken away her peace of mind. She is terrified and doesn’t want her children to continue living there due to fear of the suspect returning.
“I was at work at Tsumeb where I live and found a lot of missed calls and messages on my phone. Including the message that read: ‘Kuku has passed away, she was murdered’,” says Shaanika, who was raised by Samuel.
She says she would never have known the love of a mother if it were not for Samuel, who showered her with love all her life after the death of her mother, Samuel’s sister, when she was still young.
“The last time I spoke to her was on Monday. We had a long conversation filled with planning for the Christmas Day preparations. Little did I know that it would be our last conversation,” Shaanika says.
Shaanika says her 15-year-old daughter reportedly arrived home to absolute silence, and found her two cousins, aged three and four, frightened and hiding in the corner of a hut.
“My daughter asked them where grandma is, and the four-year-old answered saying ‘Kuku has been murdered’. She said to run back home or else we too would be murdered.”
The four-year-old reportedly kept saying ‘Granny has died, and I know where she was killed’, says Shaanika.
Shaanika says her daughter asked the young ones to show her where they left their grandmother, and then found her on the ground with a torn shirt.
“That’s the moment my daughter shouted for help and the police were called to the scene by those who came to my daughter’s rescue,” she says.
Samuel lived with her nieces, nephews and grandchildren, some of whom are adults, but were not home at the time of the incident.
The children have still not been counselled by a social worker, says Shaanika.
“Losing my grandmother in such way is so heartbreaking, we know her as a healthy person who didn’t suffer from any chronic illnesses. Just for her life to be taken away in such a gruesome way is not easy to accept,” says Jeremia Linus (29).
“What makes it worse is that the suspect is still at large, and no arrest has been made yet. We put all this in God’s hands.”
Samuel’s stepson Jason Malima (61) says discovering that Samuel was raped and murdered is the worst news he could have ever received.
“I have lost a mother. I wish I could turn back time and spend more time with her before her passing.”
Evangelist Severus Kephas from the Apostolic Faith Mission church at Omuthiya says he cannot fathom the motive of the suspect, but what was done to her is beyond sad.
“Samuel was one of the committed elder advisers at church, who the congregants could rely on for her good advice and words of encouragement,” Kephas says.
Samuel has been described as a humble, dedicated, prayerful, God fearing woman. A unifier, peace lover and a people’s person, whose mission was to bring family and friends together.
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