The formal bail application hearing of a man who faces multiple rape charges against minor children was postponed in the High Court on Friday.
Judge Herman January postponed Gavin Gawanab’s (27) case to 7 May after he was informed of his absence in court for the hearing.
According to Gawanab’s defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji, the accused was not properly requisitioned for his court appearance.
Gawanab is held at the Windhoek Correctional Facility trial awaiting section. He has been in police custody since his arrest in October 2018, for allegedly sexually violating a nine-year-old girl.
He was denied bail by the Katutura Magistrate’s Court, with the court citing that the charges he faces are of a serious nature and the current allegations of rape are similar to other cases that he has within the court system.
Gawanab is currently on trial in the High Court before Judge Dinah Usiku. At the start of his trial, He denied guilt on 23 charges – including three counts of rape, three counts of attempted rape, four charges of attempted murder and several counts of assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is accused of attempted murder after strangling the minor girl with intent to murder her, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and a further count of rape of the same victim.
All of these are said to have happened on 26 October 2018 near farm Satansloch in the Windhoek area.
After allegedly violating the girl, he went into hiding in the mountains surrounding Windhoek, causing a massive manhunt for him. He was on bail for a number of offences at the time of the attack on the minor girl. It is further alleged that he assaulted another girl near the same farm on 29 September 2018. He allegedly grabbed her by her waist and dragged her, causing injuries.
He also allegedly assaulted another young girl by stabbing her with an arrow and hitting her with his fist on 29 April 2017 in the Havana area of Windhoek before he proceeded to rape her and rob her of money. On the same day, the indictment read, Gawanab assaulted another young woman in the same area by stabbing her with an arrow. He is further facing another count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after stabbing another young woman on 2 September 2016 in Havana.
On the same day, he also allegedly threatened to stab another girl at the same location. It is further claimed that on the same day in the same location, Gawanab forced another woman into a room and made her remove all her clothes under duress and attempted to rape her. He failed. Gawanab is facing further counts of attempted murder, housebreaking with intent to rape and rape read with the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, for raping another under-aged girl in the same location on 26 September 2015.
He also faces charges of assault by threat and crimen injuria for an incident that happened on 14 May 2013 at farm Oas in the Windhoek district, where he swore at two complainants and threatened to stab them with a knife. It is further alleged that on 22 December 2012 near Daan Viljoen in the Windhoek district, Gawanab attempted to rape another minor girl and tried to murder her by strangulation. -mamakali@nepc.com.na