WINDHOEK -The suspect in the killing of a Polytechnic student in June was denied bail once again when he made his second appearance in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The suspect, Gabriel Jana Petrus (29) faces a charge of murder.

In June, he appeared before Magistrate Johannes Shuuveni and on Tuesday the matter could not proceed since Magistrate Shuuveni was on sick leave. During his first appearance, the matter was postponed for further police investigation and to enable him to enlist the services of a lawyer because of the seriousness of the case.
The accused is the son of prominent businessman Petrus Gabriel, the owner of Okalindi Group CC, which owns long-distance buses, restaurants, mini-markets and supermarkets.
Petrus allegedly strangled Tuwilika Ekandjo (22) in Khomasdal in June in a crime that left Polytechnic students shocked and was roundly condemned.

It was reported that Ekandjo broke off her relationship with Petrus the murder accused, who started stalking her and sending her text messages threatening to kill her.
Petrus allegedly sneaked into Ekandjo’s house and strangled her since he refused to accept that Ekandjo had ended their love affair.
Following Petrus’ arrest in June, Khomas Regional Investigations Crime Co-ordinator, Deputy Commissioner Sylvanus Nghishidimbwa, told New Era that the accused had scaled the wall of the house and sneaked into her bedroom through a window. At the time, she was sleeping with a female friend in the room.

He allegedly ordered the two not to scream and forced the friend into a wardrobe and locked her inside. After the killing, Petrus allegedly left the house and started sending SMS’s to his relatives telling them he was going to commit suicide since he had just killed his ex-girlfriend.
But an uncle reportedly convinced him not to take his own life and requested Petrus to meet him in order to discuss the incident and eventually handed him over to the police.
Ekandjo was a fourth-year information technology student. She was an intern at Telecom and hailed from Oshakati.