OSHAKATI – A man accused of abusing his girlfriend during May last year was convicted in the Oshakati Magistrate’s Court last week Monday on a charge of assault and intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He was also convicted on a separate count of malicious damage to property. Magistrate Helena Ekandjo found the accused Jonas Kakola guilty on both counts and sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment.
At the start of the trial in May last year, Kakola pleaded not guilty to both charges. The girlfriend pleaded with the court not to grant Kakola bail at the start of the trial alleging that he had threatened he would come after her once he is granted bail. Kakola is accused of beating his 33-year-old girlfriend with a fist before he hit her with a stick on her private parts and biting her on both arms on May 12, 2013. A medical report confirmed the girlfriend was treated for bruises on the left eye and upper thigh at the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital on May 15 last year.
Kakola also destroyed the complainant’s clothes, pots and blankets on November 25, 2012 it was alleged. The complainant whose name cannot be revealed to protect her identity told the court that the latest case of assault follows a sequence of unreported domestic violence related cases, including that of burning their child’s school fees.
The complainant also informed the court that she had once opened a case against him, but she later forgave him and withdrew the case.
She further revealed that she and Kakola have been romantically involved since 1993 and have been living together for some years, but confessed that the abuse only started in 2007. Magistrate Ekandjo dismissed Kakola’s plea for the court to fine him instead of sending him to jail in view of the prevalence of violence against women in the country.
Kakola hails from Ondilinawa village and has two children with the girlfriend. He was arrested on May 21 last year and has already spent 10 months behind bars.
By Nuusita Ashipala