Rundu Murder Case Overturned on Appeal, Sentence Reduced to Two Years
By TUW
The High Court has reduced a murder sentence handed down by the Rundu Regional Court after finding serious gaps in the prosecution’s case, resulting in a Rundu man now serving only two years in prison.
Tjihonyi Jatwimana was originally convicted of murder and sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment in May 2024. He conducted his own defence during the trial without legal representation.
After reviewing the matter on appeal, the High Court overturned the murder conviction and replaced it with assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. His sentence was reduced to 24 months’ imprisonment, backdated to 14 May 2024.
In its ruling, the court found that while Jatwimana was involved in an assault, the state failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the assault led to the victim’s death. Judges noted that there was no evidence explaining what happened to the injured man after police handed him over to medical staff at Rundu State Hospital.
The court highlighted the absence of testimony from hospital personnel and the lack of proof linking the assaulted person to the body later examined during the post-mortem. As a result, the chain of evidence required to support a murder conviction was found to be incomplete.
High Court Judge Eileen Rakow, with Judge Claudia Claasen concurring, stressed that the responsibility to prove an unbroken chain of custody lies with the prosecution, particularly where an accused person is unrepresented.
Although the court ruled that these shortcomings were fatal to the murder charge, it held that the available evidence was sufficient to support a conviction for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, leading to the reduced sentence.
