2015-04-23Staff Report 2 WINDHOEK - The mother of an alleged rape victim totally contradicted the testimony of the complainant when she testified in the rape trial of Dawid Doeseb in the High Court. The woman, who may not be identified to protect the identity of the victim, told Judge Christi Liebenberg that contrary to what her daughter testified, she was the one who initiated the whole investigation. According to the mother, when her daughter arrived home late at night, she could not remember what happened to her. The next morning, the witness said, when her daughter could still not remember anything, she retraced her (complainant) footsteps and came across the crime scene. From there she traced boot marks on the ground and came upon the accused, who was wearing boots with similar marks. She then returned home where she confronted her daughter, who then remembered that it was the accused who allegedly violated her the previous evening. The witness also informed the court it was in fact she, and not the complainant, who pointed out the scene to the police. During cross-examination, the complainant was at pains to explain what happened when she arrived home after the alleged rape. At the time, she told Trevor Brockerhoff, the State-funded lawyer of Doeseb, she only told her grandmother what happened to her and not her mother. When questioned as to why, she replied she was afraid her mother would beat her. Brockerhoff called it an afterthought. He said the only reason she could not tell her mother what happened was she was so drunk she did not know what happened. The complainant denied this and said she saw Doeseb’s face clearly when he grabbed her from behind and she could turn her head to look at him. The complainant also denied ever making a withdrawal statement to the police and said a certain Thomas Kutondokwa, a police officer, came to her at the farm and told her that the investigating officer, Sergeant Aweseb, told him she wanted to withdraw the case. In fact, she said, Aweseb was the one who suggested she withdraw the case, as she could not identify the second perpetrator, but that she was not prepared. She, however, signed a document Kutondokwa brought her, which turned out to be the withdrawal statement. Doeseb denied all charges against him when he pleaded to charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and two counts of rape. According to the indictment, Doeseb allegedly assaulted the complainant and raped her near the Omatatu Location at Witvlei in the Gobabis District on August 13, 2013. The second rape charge is because he allegedly assisted an unknown person to rape the complainant. The case continues and Doeseb is on bail. 2015-04-23Staff Report 2
