Three minors appeared in the Eenhana Magistrate’s Court before magistrate Helvi Iimbili last week on rape charges.
They were each granted N$5 000 bail on condition that they report themselves every day to the nearest police station.
The trio, of whom two are learners from the Dr Abraham Iyambo Secondary School in the Ohangwena region, were arrested two months ago in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old fellow learner.
One of them indicated in court that none of them had an affair with the suspect.
He said the suspect, in fact, approached them to request whether they could all have sexual intercourse with her at the same time.
“I remember asking her if she could manage the three of us sleeping with her at the same time. She claimed that she was able to, and that is how we proceeded,” added one of the suspects.
The other suspects alleged that it was not the victim’s first time having intercourse with other learners on school premises.
The rape incident occurred on school premises after the learners were dismissed from their evening study on that specific day.
School principal Hafeni Jeremiya told New Era that when the hostel matrons came to supervise that night to see if all the learners were present, they noticed the purported victim was absent.
“The matron decided to go and look for the victim at the classes, and met her in the corridors. She asked her where she was coming from, and she told the matron that she was assisting other fellow male learners with schoolwork. The matron became suspicious, and that is when she asked the learner to tell the truth. The learner later confessed that she was busy having sexual intercourse with three other learners at the classes, but without her consent,” said Jeremiya.
The next day, the suspects were arrested after the parents of the victim opened a rape case against them.
The victim was subsequently transferred to a different school.
The suspects are in grade 12, and they are busy with final examinations.
Elina Hashipara prosecuted for the state. – taimihaihambo2000@gmail.com