Swapo Women's Council has condemned the brutal murder of Petronella Sabatha, who was hacked to death with an axe inside her house in the Etambi location in Otjiwarongo this week.

The relationship between the accused and the victim is currently unclear.

Sabatha was allegedly murdered by 18-year-old Roveto Cloete, who has since been arrested after fleeing the scene to Windhoek on the day of the incident.

The party's Otjiwarongo District Coordinator, Vistoria Tomas, described the attack as horrific and a grim reminder of how gender-based violence continues to affect society.

"Swapo Party Women's Council condemns this cowardly and barbaric act in the strongest possible terms. There are no words that can fully capture the disgust and anger we feel towards the perpetrators of this crime. This was not just a death; it was an execution. It was a violent assertion of power over a woman's life, and it must be met with the full, unforgiving force of the law. We condemn the normalisation of violence in our society."

The Swapo Party Women's Council promised to continue fighting, advocating, and demanding a Namibia where women are safe.

"We must live freely from the fear of walking alone. We must live freely from fear of men we love. We must live freely from the threat of violence simply as women. Living in fear is not living. It is surviving. And our mothers, our daughters, and our sisters deserve more than survival. They deserve a free and safe life."

Cloete briefly appeared in court in Windhoek, where he was denied bail.

He is expected to be transferred to Otjiwarongo to appear in that town's Magistrates' Court next week on Tuesday.