Alleged serial rapist Gavin Gawanab, who is on trial for 19 offences of rape, attempted murder and various assaults told Windhoek High Court Judge Dinnah Usiku that he is a gentleman who is incapable of hurting women.

Gawanab was testifying in his own defence after Judge Usiku placed him on his defence in a section 174 ruling he had lodged to be exonerated on the charges. She, however, acquitted him on four of the charges after she found that the complainants were not reliable witnesses as they were under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and could not clearly remember what had happened.

During his evidence-in-chief, Gawanab denied all the charges and told the court that it was a case of mistaken identity. The judge, however, found that several of the complainants positively identified him as the culprit. The accused, however, insisted that while he knows some of the victims, he never touched any of them. 

With regards to the charge that he sexually assaulted his own niece and the fact that his sisters testified against him, he said he does not know why they would turn against him. 

Gawanab further told the court that he does not drink any alcohol, as his Legal Aid-instructed lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji reminded him of the evidence of one of the State witnesses that they were drinking together before one of the alleged offences was committed. 

His crime spree of allegedly sexually assaulting under-aged girls started in December 2012 until he was arrested in November 2018 after he allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl and cut open her genitals.

He was on bail on the previous charges when he pounced on his last victim, a girl whose genitals he allegedly cut open when he could not fit in. For this, he is facing charges of attempted murder after allegedly 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. The incidents allegedly happened on 26 October 2018 near farm Satan’s Loch in the Windhoek area.  After allegedly violating the little 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, including several counts of rape, assaults, housebreaking with the intent to rape and rape, crimen injuria and attempted rape. 

The State is represented by deputy prosecutor general Innocencia Nyoni. Gawanab remains in custody.

– rrouth@nepc.com.na