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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Namibian police have arrested a Zimbabwean couple after two days of playing hide-and-seek with law enforcement agencies following their alleged brutal killing and burning of a 10-year-old girl in Windhoek North.

The couple, along with the now deceased’s mother (a Namibian), are accused of having committed the offence last Friday at around 9pm.

Namibian police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi said in a statement that the suspects were arrested on Sunday around Otjiwarongo town, as they sought to skip the country.

She said indications were that Edward Nkata and his wife (whose name is yet to be released), along with three minors were on their way to Zimbabwe.

Dep Comm Shikwambi said they had since opened a case of murder and obstructing or defeating the course of justice.

“Edward Nkata has been identified as the main suspect in the murder of the 10-year-old girl, whose badly burnt body was discovered in a municipal skip in Windhoek North early on Saturday morning by detectives from the Serious Crime Investigation Division.

“The minor’s mother was arrested on Saturday in connection with the murder and mutilation of the child’s body,” said Dep Comm Shikwambi.

The police spokesperson said indications were that Nkata killed the girl before setting her body ablaze in the skip along Ooievaar Street around 9pm last Friday.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspects were seen dragging a wheelie bin that possibly contained the victim’s body to the steel skip where they burnt the body.

The official said detectives followed up on that information, which led them to the girl’s mother.

“The woman was staying at the said house with the Zimbabwean couple and their children,” she said.