WINDHOEK – The trial of a woman, who is facing multiple charges of rape and human trafficking in Windhoek High Court, is nearing its finalisation with submissions before judgment set for next month.
Legal Aid-funded defence lawyer, Milton Engelbrecht, and state advocate, Felistas Shikerete-Vendura, are expected to submit before presiding High Court Judge Naomi Shivute yesterday. However, the matter could not proceed because Shikerete-Vendura was not available. Consequently, the matter was set down for June 11.
The suspect, Tuufilwa Ndawina Jonas, 34, has been on trial on three counts of trafficking in persons, four counts of rape and one count of attempted rape.
The charges emanate from her alleged involvement in a scam that landed a schoolgirl from northern Namibia on Okahandja district farms, where she was forced into becoming a sexual partner to two men.
The 15-year-old girl was allegedly lured from Okahenge village in the Omusati Region in 2017 with false empty promises of employment. As a result, the minor dropped out of school. The girl allegedly fell pregnant as a result of the alleged sexual exploitation during her stay at the farm in the Okahandja area.
Jonas, a resident of Okahandja, denied any wrongdoing when she took a no-guilty plea at the start of her trial in April. In her defence, Jonas informed the court that the version of the state is wrong.
Jonas denied telling the complainant to leave school and move in with her on a farm in the Okahandja area. She further denied informing the complainant that she will find her a job at the farm. Jonas was allegedly staying with her boyfriend at the time.
Jonas also dismissed the complainant’s evidence that upon her arrival at the farm, she forced the girl to move in with a certain John Puariune and have sex with him on several occasions against her will, as payment for the N$200 fee for the transport from northern Namibia. Furthermore, she allegedly never controlled any of her movements.
Jonas admitted to have met the complainant at Okahenge village while she was visiting.