A 36-year-old medical doctor who was accused of raping his seven-year-old son, and his co-accused 58-year-old mother, were on Friday granted N$15000 bail each.

Magistrate Immanuel Udjombala granted bail after a formal bail hearing and ordered that the applicants do not interfere with State witnesses or the investigation.

 Udjombala said it would not be in the interest of justice or the public to deny the applicants, who may not be named to protect the identity of the child, their freedom, based on the strength of the State’s case. 

He said the State’s case was destroyed by evidence that the mother of the doctor was receiving treatment for cancer when the alleged incident on 01 February 2024 occurred. 

According to the State, the doctor went to his son’s school and sodomised him in his car while his mother stood watch. Udjombala said this was disproved by the evidence presented. He further said the bail application was based on emotion between the warring parties, and note should be taken that the law is divorced from emotions, ”and once we cloud reasoning with emotions, justice will not be done, and the law will not be applied without fear and favour”. 

He said evidence indicated that the alleged victim has not been with his father since October 2023 to date. Further, the magistrate said the failure of the investigating officer to ensure a rape examination was done on the alleged victim a day after the alleged incident is worrisome. 

In addition, he said, the report of the doctor who conducted an examination on the alleged victim and compiled a J88 tells two tales, one that the testimony of the boy could be tainted as he had seen previous social workers, meaning that he could have been programmed to tell a picture painted to be desirable to the complainant, the mother of the child. 

According to the magistrate, the conduct of the complainant should be investigated, as false allegations of this nature could seriously destroy the career of the accused, and will affect the victim. 

He said the State must act in the best interest of the child, and not just rely on the word of the complainant, but should look at the history between the mother and father. 

The matter was postponed to 15 September. 

The applicants were represented by Sisa Namandje, assisted by Karel Gaeb and Mbushandje Ntinda, and the State by Bernadine Bertolini and Rowan van Wyk.

-rrouth@nepc.com.na