By: Kelvin Chiringa
A Gobabis based man was convicted in the High Court for the murder of his three month old son in a fit of rage after his lover allegedly disclosed to him that the child was her ex-boyfriend’s.
Dawid Amseb appeared very downcast this week when he appeared in court where he got convicted of murder with direct intent.
He luckily escaped a conviction of attempted murder and was found guilty of common assault following allegations that he tried to strangle the mother of his child to death, Asina Moroa.
The court has heard that Amseb in 2017 got into a heated argument with his lover on the 30th of March during which she told him that their child would not be registered in his name, but that of her former boyfriend.
He claims that he was heart-broken at this revelation and wanted to leave right away.
However, Moroa has testified that he, out of rage, picked up their child and hit him on the floor, severely injuring his head.
She said that Amseb during that altercation said, “You will make me to be locked up by the police,” and attempted to strangle her but she broke free.
That was the time he turned on the helpless child, the court heard, and she screamed at him begging not to kill him and called their neighbors.
Two eye-witnesses who hurried to the crime scene reported that they saw Amseb standing under a tree while the child’ eyes rolled with his head swelling.
The witnesses told court that when they asked Amseb why he had done such a thing, he replied, “It is my child, I am the one who injured him.”
A sergeant that arrived on the scene also testified that the father told him, “I wanted to kill the kid”.
Amseb’s defence was that he only picked up the child to leave with him, but the mother grabbed him back.
He said this caused the child to slip from his hands and “injured himself”, but the judge ruled that this account was false beyond reasonable doubt.
The fact that he just stood under a tree and never tried to assist the child informed this finding.
The child was later rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, which according to the doctor were so severe that there was no chance of survival.
Why attempted murder got ruled out
Amseb luckily escaped a serious charge of attempted murder on allegations that he strangulated his loved one.
His lawyer convincingly argued that there was no physical proof that strangulation had occurred.
This was substantiated by a lack of police or medical records to that effect while there were no visible strangulation marks on her neck.
Further, she never told anyone that she had been strangled when she had all the time to do so.
In the meantime, Amseb will be appearing on the 6th of March for mitigation during which time he will be pleading for a lesser sentence.
