WINDHOEK – The son of a northern businessman and constituency councillor has repeatedly pleaded with a young woman he allegedly raped to forgive him and not pursue the matter further with the police, text messages seen by New Era reveal.
The man, whose name cannot be revealed pending his arrest and appearance in court, told the victim that he plans to get married next year, and revealing his alleged acts would scupper his marriage plans.
The alleged rapist’s father is a councillor for one of the constituencies in Oshana Region.
The victim, a 27-year-old woman from Ongwediva, says the man’s rich family have offered her a N$10 000 bribe in return for her silence – further alleging that a female police officer handling the rape case she opened is also putting her under pressure to accept the family’s offer. The victim was orphaned as a child.
“She said I am young and beautiful and I should not drag my name through the mud and cause division in my family. I told her I do not care about the money, I want justice and the law to take its course,” she said ruefully, adding that the suspect had humiliated her, and her dignity was not for sale.
“I am in fear. I can’t move around because I don’t know what he will do to me. He can kill me, but the police are doing nothing to arrest him,” she related, saying she opened the case, CR number 79/10/2014, on October 10.
The alleged rapist, in SMS’s seen by New Era, has been pleading for mercy from the victim since the incident.
“I know you are feeling bad but I am also regretting my action, please, please if you can forgive me about this, [I] am sorry I mean it! Please … It will be a bad new[s] to me as you know I’m planning to get married next year and if this process goes on it will affect the [w]hole process. Reply please [I] am sorry,” he said in one of his desperate pleas.
In another text message, he said: “[Victim’s name] you know we are family, I really regret my action to you [I] am very sorry please forgive me. Think about the future [I] am entitled to help you after this issue [I] am very sorry I will not hate you after this, please help me [I] am sorry. I was looking for you yesterday but I did not find you home. Please [I] am sorry.”
It is alleged that the rape occurred while the two, who are related, were home alone at a village near Ongwediva.
She said she was cleaning the house in the morning when the man started behaving indecently.
“I was picking up some dirty glasses from a table when I turned around to realise that he (suspect) had locked us inside the sitting room,” she narrated her ordeal.
“I asked him what he was doing but he just grabbed me and held my arms at my back. He then pushed me onto a sofa, stripped off my jeans and underwear. I somehow managed to free myself and ran towards another entrance of the building which was also locked. I got hold of the key from my cousin’s bedroom, but he (suspect) caught up with me.
“He then grabbed me again, lifted me to my cousin’s room and threw me onto his bed where he raped me. I kept screaming but no one came to my rescue,” the tearful woman said.
The suspect’s parents visited the victim the next day to apologise for their son’s acts but she refused to accept their begging for pardon.
“When I refused, his mother, who is related to me, became agitated and asked if that was how I intended to pay her back for paying my school fees. I am an orphan, when my mother died some years back, she paid for my Grade 9 and Grade 10 school fees,” said the victim.
The suspect’s parents allegedly forced the victim to write a text message to the investigating officer to inform her that she was withdrawing the case.
The victim said that she however called the investigating officer later and told her to ignore the text message as she did not send it out of her own free will.
She said the police officer handling her case is known to her family and has been urging her to drop the matter.
“When I follow up the case, she says I am not the only person with a problem, there are many cases that need to be solved.”
Oshana Police Regional Commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa said that he was aware of the case and that the victim came to his office to complain that the police were not taking her case seriously.
Kashihakumwa said that after their meeting, the victim never came back to him again and he suspected that everything “went well”.
Kashihakumwa claimed that the suspect was arrested last week and that he instructed his officers to investigate the alleged negligence on their part.
However, the victim dismissed Kashihakumwa’s version of the supposed arrest as a blatant lie.
New Era yesterday sought comment from the alleged rapist, who hung up the phone after this reporter introduced herself. He later sent an SMS saying the mobile network was bad.
He pleaded ignorance of the alleged rape.