Kidnap, rape and murder accused defends self

Kidnap, rape and murder accused defends self

A 29-year-old Drimiopsis resident, accused of kidnapping, rape and murder, took the stand in his own defence on Monday after the State closed its case against him.

Abel Mokalabatho mostly repeated what he said when he pleaded not guilty to the charges of rape and murder at the start of his trial before Windhoek High Court Judge Naomi Shivute.

He wanted to plead guilty to the charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice for disposing the knife, but the State did not accept the plea as he did not admit all elements of the offence. On the day, he once again admitted that he buried the knife under some plants in his parents’ yard, but denied that he told the police that the victim left for a farm in the company of an unknown man after they had consensual sex in a toilet.

He also denied kidnapping the now-deceased, saying she went with him voluntarily, and that he did not force her at knifepoint to accompany him to his room.

The prosecution is charging Makalabatho with three counts of rape, one count of kidnapping, one count of murder, and one count of obstructing the course of justice. 

It is alleged by the State that on 1 and 2 August 2020, the accused and the victim were drinking at a shebeen at Drimiopsis in the Gobabis district. 

It is further alleged that when the victim went to the toilet, Mokalabatho followed her and raped her. 

He then forcefully took her to his house, where he committed the second and third counts of rape. 

The State indicates that the victim was intoxicated, rendering her incapable of communicating her unwillingness. 

On the count of murder, Mokalabatho allegedly stabbed the victim with a knife on her neck, and strangled her with a piece of wire. 

To cover up his alleged deed, he buried the victim in a manhole, cleaned his bedroom with a mop to remove the victim’s blood, and buried the knife underneath some plants. 

In his own defence, Mokalabatho repeated what he said in a plea explanation read to the court by his Legal Aid-instructed lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji. 

According to him, the deceased stabbed herself in the neck after they had had a quarrel because of a call he received from his ex-girlfriend. He further said he tried to stop her, but she managed to stab herself. On the kidnapping charge, he said he and the deceased started a new relationship, and she accompanied him to his house voluntarily. He further denied raping the deceased three times, and said that they had consensual sex once during the night in question. With regards to the defeating charge, he said after the deceased stabbed herself, he panicked and decided to throw the body into a drain a distance away from his place, and informed the police that she went to a farm with an unknown man. He also admitted that he cleaned the room with a mop. During his plea in the Gobabis Magistrate’s Court, however, Mokalabatho told the court that the following day after he had forcefully taken the victim to his house and raped her, she had threatened to report him to her mother about the incident. 

As a result, he stabbed her with a knife in the neck, then strangled her with a piece of wire. The doctor who performed an autopsy on the deceased testified that she did not die because of the stab wound but due to asphyxia from strangulation with the piece of wire.

The State is being represented by Ethel Ndlovu.

Mokalabatho is currently detained in the trial-awaiting section at Windhoek Correctional Facility.  -rrouth@nepc.com.na