A 21-year-old mother took her life after murdering her 5-year-old daughter at the old Ombili informal settlement at Otjiwarongo in the Otjozondjupa Region on Saturday.

Police in the town were alerted to the crime between 16h50 and 17h00.

According to Regional Police Community Liaison Officer Maureen Mbeha, the deceased have been identified as Hileni Vemujendavi Virere and Winny Virere.

Mbeha says Hileni strangled her daughter to death, after which she proceeded to commit suicide with an electrical cord she tied to the roof of her shack.