A 36-year-old medical doctor, accused of raping his seven-year-old son, wants the court to release him on a warning.

The doctor, who may not be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim, and his mother are facing a charge of rape each. 

It is alleged by the State that they sexually violated the boy on several occasions between 2018 and January 2024. 

The alleged rapes came to light after an alleged incident on 1 February when the father allegedly went to his son’s school and sodomised him in his car while his mother, the victim’s grandmother, looked on. 

The alleged victim told a social worker that, “Dadda put his tollie in my bum-bum while granny stood outside the car”. 

Public prosecutor Bernadine Bertolini told magistrate Immanuel Udjombala during submission on Friday that this is enough to prove that the State has a very strong case against the accused. 

She said this after Sisa Namandje, on behalf of the accused, claimed the State’s case is so weak that it will collapse even before going to trial. 

He said there is no merit in the allegations, and the person who made the allegations – the mother of the child – is a liar with psychiatric problems. 

Namandje told the court the woman is a gossip-monger, who is out to get the family of her ex-husband by spreading lies about them. 

“What we have here is a cocktail of inconsistencies and lies aimed at tarnishing the name of her former in-laws,” the lawyer stated. 

Bertolini, however, countered that the statement of the child proves the opposite. 

According to her, the child made the statement out of his own volition, and not due to his mother’s influence. 

She further said the child identified and demonstrated the acts as well as the body parts, and further identified certain places in his father’s house where the alleged acts happened. 

Bertolini further said the accused persons were in a position of trust and authority over the child – and if granted bail, they could revisit the offences. 

“No bail amount or bail conditions can prevent the accused from continuing with their evil deeds,” she told Udjombala. 

She said the State opposes bail based on the strength of its case and the serious nature of the offence, especially since it involves a minor, flight risk and fear of interference in the investigations, which is still at an infant stage. 

The suspect might also interfere with witnesses, and his release will not be in the interests of justice and the public, Bertolini said. 

Udjombala set the date for his ruling as 12 July, but indicated that if it is ready before then, he would notify the parties involved. 

-rrouth@nepc.com.na