The Internal Investigation Directorate of the Namibian Police is investigating whether there was any negligence on the part of the police in the recent death of a child in the Wanaheda police cells in Windhoek.
The directorate last week took over the investigation into the death of four-year-old Fortuna Tenete.
Tenete died on January 24 after a female inmate, Loise Kaambu, allegedly smashed his head against the cell floor in revenge for a fight she had had with his mother, Kaarina Mateus (29), earlier in the day.
Mateus had been held at the police station since the end of November after she had failed to pay N$500 bail in a shoplifting case.
The officer commanding the Internal Investigation Directorate, Commissioner Joseph Ekandjo, told Namibian Sun that the investigation will look into various factors, including the nature and the gravity of the offence Mateus is charged with.
According to him she was arrested on a charge of shoplifting, which is a minor offence, and because she had a child with her the arresting officers should have tried to negotiate a more lenient bail arrangement.
“The arresting officers should have used their common sense and negotiated with the magistrate. The magistrate may not even have known that she had a child with her.”
He said a police officer is usually suspended if such an investigation establishes that there was negligence on the part of the police.
Ekandjo pointed out that the mother claimed that she had no one to look after the child and that the arresting officers should have used their common sense to find out if she was lying.
He stressed that there should have been extra effort from the police officers to establish if the woman was lying. “They are supposed to go the extra mile.”
Ekandjo added that the public should be aware that there is a lack of facilities for children at prisons and holding cells.
He said the police want separate facilities for women who are imprisoned with their children.
“These circumstances were however unique and unfortunate. It was a first of its kind,” he said.
According to him the officers should have put the woman and child alone in a cell, but the lack of space at overcrowded police stations should be taken into consideration.
“This is a lesson which we should learn from,” Ekandjo said.
WINDHOEK ELLANIE SMIT