The community of the Oshiwana Penduka informal settlement at Mariental is in mourning as a family reels from the tragic death of their seven-year-old daughter Einoritha Mhopyeni, who was raped and killed.
The young girl Einoritha Mhopyeni disappeared on Monday after she went to nearby bushes to relieve herself.
The gruesome discovery was made by a passerby, who was collecting firewood, in a room of an abandoned house at the nearby now-closed Date Farm.
Preliminary police investigation indicates that Einoritha was hit with a brick on the head, causing her instant death.
Eino Mhopyeni, the father of the little girl, said, "I remember her as my life and everything. The person who did this took everything from me. I am just a shell; I am not myself. She was my everything; she was my confidante; we shared everything; there was nothing I had not shared with her. She was basically my friend; she was my child; she was my everything. That person has taken away everything from me."
A heartbroken Engracia Shihepo, Einoritha's grandmother, was at a loss for words. "My heart is broken. It is something that makes me feel very bad. I don't know what to say."
Einoritha's mother, Yvonne |Goagoses, said she was leaving everything in God's hands, adding, "I don't have anything to say."
The Hardap Governor, Salomon April, has called on the community not to treat the incident in isolation because similar incidents have happened in the region in the past.
Moreover, he urged them to collaborate with the police to ensure that the culprit is apprehended.
"I think problems are somewhere. We are trying to treat the symptoms. But the root cause of all of this is that the kid should not have done it in the first place. That little girl should not have gone to the bush to relieve herself. It is a challenge; it is a provocation directly towards the leadership, including myself, that people should be provided with what we call basic rights."
Dep. Commissioner Eric Clay, the Crime Investigations Coordinator in the Hardap Region, assured the community that the police are working hard to apprehend the culprit.
"No suspect has been arrested so far, and investigators are working around the clock to ensure that the suspect is apprehended and brought before the court."
Clay appealed to the public with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect to contact him on 081 129 8473 or Senior Inspector Boois on 081 259 8664.