WINDHOEK - A 31-year-old Angolan national has appeared in Outapi Magistrate’s Court on allegations of having raped a 44-year-old woman.

The alleged sexual crime happened on Friday at about 19h49 at Omundjalala village behind Olufuko area in Outapi Constituency, in the Omusati Region.

The suspect made his first court appearance yesterday and he was not asked to plead. The case was postponed to October 21 for further investigations and to enable him to apply for legal aid and he was remanded in police custody due to the seriousness of the offence.

According to the Omusati regional police spokesperson Inspector Lineekela  Shikongo,  information received thus far is that the suspect followed the victim while she was on her way from Anamulenge open market, grabbed her from behind, held her neck, wrestled her to the ground and forced her to have sexual intercourse without her consent. 

“It is further reported that the suspect purportedly threatened to kill the victim with a knife if she happened to scream. After the suspect had sexually assaulted the victim it is alleged that he further robbed her money of N$700 and a black Hisense cellphone of unknown value and also walked away with the victim’s handbag that contained all her national documents,” explained the inspector.

Shikongo said the suspect was arrested shortly after the police were notified.
Praising the members of the police, Shikongo said that a dedicated team of police officers from Outapi Police Station led by Warrant Officer Ottilie Nanghonda and Detective Sergeant Jonas Neonya attended the scene and with the sketchy information (description of the suspect) from the complainant, set off into the darkness to search for the suspect. 

Shikongo further said that the team worked very hard to apprehend the criminal despite the fact that they only used their motor vehicle they were having as their only source of light as it was pitch dark.
He said the victim’s cellphone was recovered as well as an amount of N$180 from the suspect.