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A BAIL appeal by a woman charged with murdering her 11-day-old baby in March this year was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
The magistrate who turned down a bail application by murder accused Jennifer Shipanga in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura in July considered all the relevant facts and circumstances placed before her and did not misdirect herself, judge Dinnah Usiku remarked in the judgement in which Shipanga’s appeal against the magistrate’s ruling was dismissed.
Usiku, with judge Naomi Shivute agreeing with her decision, added that she was satisfied it would not be in the public interest and the interest of justice for Shipanga to be released on bail.
Shipanga, then 27 years old, was arrested on 3 March, after she allegedly murdered her infant daughter, Magdalena Mweneni Shipanga, in Katutura during the early morning hours of that day.
She has been held in custody since her arrest.
During her bail hearing in July, Shipanga told the court that following her discharge from a Windhoek hospital where her daughter had been born on 20 February, she went on a day-long crack cocaine binge and also took prescribed medication on an empty stomach, and then became paranoid and experienced hallucinations. She said she heard voices and saw things, and did not know what happened after that.
She would plead not guilty to the charges when she stands trial, she added.
The court was also informed that the killing of Shipanga’s baby took place in the presence of her grandmother, who saw Shipanga hitting the baby’s head against a door. Shipanga is also alleged to have strangled her seven-year-old son until he was unconscious, and to have assaulted her grandmother by punching and biting her.
A cousin of Shipanga came to the rescue of her son and grandmother by breaking a window of the locked house where the events transpired to enter and put a stop to Shipanga’s rampage, the court heard.
In a post-mortem report, it is recorded that the baby sustained multiple skull fractures and fatal brain injuries.
Shipanga is charged with counts of murder, attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, all read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act.
She pleaded not guilty to all three charges during a court appearance in October.
With the hearing of her appeal against the magistrate’s decision to not grant her bail, defence lawyer Jermaine Muchali informed the two judges Shipanga would deny guilt on all charges during her trial and say she was experiencing an episode of temporary insanity when the incident took place.
Shipanga is due to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura again on 30 January.
State advocate Johannes Kalipi represented the state in Shipanga’s appeal.
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