ONDANGWA – The Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court showed mercy to a 21-year-old man, convicted of raping a minor in 2017, when it sentenced him to serve three years imprisonment.
Magistrate Makapa Simasiku last week sentenced Nakambale Moses to 10 years imprisonment, of which seven years were suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted on a charge of rape or attempted rape during the suspension period.
The court showed mercy to Moses due to his difficult upbringing.
Circumstances, such as him being a first-time offender and having committed the crime at the tender age of 16 years, worked in his favour.
In addition, he was sexually abused as a child, and he currently has two minor children to take care of. “His age is a mitigating factor in his favour. He is an unmarried father to two minor children. The mother of his children appears to have no means of her own to support; thus, she and the children solely depend on the accused,” said Simasiku. In addition, because Moses was underage when he committed the crime, the court said he was exempted from receiving the prescribed minimum sentence imposed on a charge of rape. “He has no formal education; both his parents are deceased. The mother died when he was four years old, and he did not live with his father. He is to this day haunted by losing all his siblings in a fire in which he was the sole survivor. He, therefore, suffered post-traumatic stress,” said Simasiku. Despite Moses’ circumstances, Simasiku said the seriousness of the offence outweighs them; therefore, dictating he pays for what he has done.
The court noted that even without the victim impact assessment report, it is evident that the minor victim suffered pain as a result of the act.
Moses admitted to raping a two-year-old boy, who was left in his care in 2017, and was, thus, convicted on a charge of rape.
According to court documents, the convict and the victim lived in the same house at the time the incident occurred. Moses has been held in custody since his arrest nearly seven years ago.
He is represented by Leon Kabajani, while the State was represented by prosecutor Charly Iiyambo. – ashikololo@nepc.com.na