WINDHOEK – A Windhoek resident accused of a string of rapes in the vicinity of the Katutura State Hospital wants to fire his state-appointed lawyer and indicated he now wants to engage a private lawyer with the aid of a friend.
Jan Rooinasie (48) informed Judge Alfred Siboleka he does not want any state-appointed lawyer at his trial, but will opt for a private lawyer to be arranged for him by a friend. Judge Siboleka, after questioning Rooinasie for the better part of an hour on his reasons for firing yet another lawyer, postponed the matter to Friday for Rooinasie to present his ‘friend’ identified by Rooinasie as Eliaser Hamukoto who should indicate to the court whether he would pay Rooinasie’s legal fees. Rooinasie has already fired his first state-appointed lawyer, Mese Tjituri, in January last year prompting the judge to postpone until he engaged another lawyer.
According to Rooinasie, Mbanga Siyomunji who was recently appointed to represent him only introduced himself on Monday morning at the court. “My Lord, I don’t know this defence counsel, it is the first time for me to see him,” Rooinasie told the judge through an interpreter. Rooinasie who was dressed in prison uniform previously escaped from custody and was re-arrested, while busy robbing a place in Klein Windhoek in 2011 and has been in custody ever since. Rooinasie faces seven counts of rape, one count of abduction or alternatively kidnapping, one count of attempting to commit an immoral act with a child below the age of 16 years, three counts of crimen injuria, two counts of attempted murder and one count of indecent assault. It is alleged in the indictment that Rooinasie abducted a 13-year-old girl from her parent’s home in Katutura on May 25, 2007 with the purpose of raping her. It is further alleged that on March 02, 2010 he repeatedly raped a woman he enticed into helping him and his apparent pregnant girlfriend, after rendering her unconscious by strangling her. It is further alleged that he directed various obscenities at his victim. Rooinasie is also alleged to have fooled another young woman into following him into the bushes near the Katutura State Hospital, barely four days later on 06 March, where he also strangled her rendering her unconscious and proceeded to rape her. Yet again, in the space of four days, Rooinasie allegedly managed to lure another young woman into the bushes with a cry for help with luggage. This time around he told the victim that there was a woman who was struggling with many bags and asked her to go and help him carry the bags. The unsuspecting victim went with Rooinasie and when they arrived in the bushy area, he pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her if she did not do what he wanted, according to the indictment. As in the previous instances he strangled his victim until she fainted and raped her.
By Roland Routh