ONGWEDIVA – Oshakati High Court Judge Marlene Tommasi on Friday sentenced Sem Shafoishuna Haufiku to an effective 17 years imprisonment for two counts of rape and a further two counts of housebreaking.
Judge Tommasi sentenced Haufiku to two years for housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, 10 years for rape, five years for housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery and another 10 years for rape.
However, the judge ordered that the sentences imposed in the second rape charge run concurrently with the first rape charge.
The charges Haufiku is convicted of stem from one evening when he broke into a cucashop in Omusati Region and stole cash and alcohol. He proceeded to the next cucashop where he forced a female complainant to open the cucashop and thereafter stole beer, a Nokia cellphone, one Luncheon roll, Dunhill cigarettes and a knife.
In that cucashop, the court heard that Haufiku used a knife to subdue a pregnant complainant and raped her twice.
The judge, while sentencing Haufiku, said the housebreaking charges were premeditated.
“The accused set out that evening with the intent to commit the offences of housebreaking with the intention to steal and he came prepared with a knife to do violence if he encountered resistance,” the judge said.
The judge further remarked that the courts have a duty to protect women and children; hence, she found no rational explanation that mitigated Haufiku’s actions, despite having been only 18 years.
Judge Tommasi concurred with the counsel for the state, Ruben Shileka, who, in his submission, stated that Haufiku has shown no remorse for his conduct.
“There was no acknowledgment of wrongdoing and no sincere and heartfelt apology for his conduct,” the judge said.
Before being sentenced on Friday, Haufiku had spent six years in custody – two years before he was released on bail and another four years after he was rearrested for failing to appear in court while on bail.