2018-05-18Staff Report 2 Maria Amakali WINDHOEK - Two female suspects have been added to the case of the father who stands accused of sexually violating his daughter and forcing her to abort on numerous occasions. The women, aged 45 and 21, were added to the case of the 29-year-old father (names cannot be revealed to protect the identity of the victim) who is said to have sexually violated his then 14-year-old daughter (now 18-years-old). The violation allegedly took place over three years between 2013-2017. The prosecution alleges that the two women worked in cahoots with the father in carrying out the abortions. They are charged with one count of abortion each. According to court documents, on several occasions the women alongside the complainant’s father knowingly and unlawfully performed abortions on the victim. The trio allegedly did so knowing they were not medical practitioners. The accused women were each granted bail in the amount of N$2 000 when they made their initial court appearance. The accused’s father was released on N$5 000 bail last year. Standing next to the women in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, the accused father, a soldier in the Namibian Defence Force, is charged with rape, abortion and incest. According to the charge sheet, he intentionally and unlawfully raped his daughter on numerous occasions and forced her to terminate the pregnancies with the help of the two women. The prosecution submitted that the two are guilty of incest given the fact that a father-daughter relationship existed between them. The victim’s boyfriend who discovered that the victim had terminated her fourth pregnancy reported rape allegations to the police. It was revealed during the formal bail application of the first accused that the victim had confessed to the social worker about the abuse she suffered over three years at the hands of her father. She had indicated she was forced to abort her first pregnancy in 2015. According to the social worker, the victim is now living in a shelter and undergoing therapy for trauma. With the investigations not yet complete, Magistrate Michelle Kubersky postponed the matter to July 31 for further police investigation. 2018-05-18Staff Report 2
