A Windhoek resident accused of raping his biological daughter several times and forcing her to abort the foetus after impregnating her has managed to secure the services of a criminal defence lawyer.
The accused who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, got Joseph Andreas to represent him during the trial.
After he could not afford to retain the services of prominent criminal lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji, he applied for Legal Aid after Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen said if he did not get legal representation, he would have to finish his trial without one.
The accused had already started to testify in his own defence when he was released from prison on a different matter and fired his then Legal Aid instructed lawyer Jermaine Muchali, rehired him in a private capacity and instructed advocate James Diedericks.
He, however, could not afford to pay them as his projected business dealings did not materialise and he had to revert to Legal Aid.
The accused is currently on warning on the rape case after the magistrate’s court struck his matter from the roll for a lack of the prosecutor general (PG)’s decision.
The State, however, later got their ducks in a row and resummoned him to stand trial after the PG decided he must stand trial in the High Court.
Yesterday, Andreas came on record and asked the judge for an opportunity to acquaint himself with the matter. Claasen agreed and remanded the matter to 25 October for a status hearing.
The accused pleaded not guilty to several counts of rape, incest, sodomy, and inducement of abortion before Claasen at the start of his trial.
He is facing two counts of rape, alternatively incest, three counts of child trafficking, and two counts of assault by threat.
The State is alleging that the accused repeatedly raped his biological daughter, impregnated her, and then forced her to have an abortion. The abortion allegedly took place when the victim accompanied him during one of his various trips to Angola between 2010 and 2011.
The alleged rapes were also perpetrated while the victim accompanied the accused on his trips, and once during a family holiday in Swakopmund. The judge dismissed a section 174 application by the accused to be released after the close of the State’s case, saying he has a case to answer.
After his arrest, the accused undertook a lengthy bail application, which eventually saw him being released on bail in July 2014. It was during his release from custody that he allegedly carried out a robbery and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, of which five years were suspended, but it was overturned on appeal.
During the bail application, it was alleged in court that he made his daughter his wife, and the accused himself during cross-examination questioned whether the victim was his biological child.
The prosecution is represented by Palmer Khumalo.