By Anna Shilongo
WINDHOEK
Three women who sought protection and assistance at the police station at Katutura on Saturday night suffered insults such as ‘fo**n gaan’, ‘Boo-sh**t,’ ‘f****k stupid bitches’ and the wrath of the police instead.
The three women who were denied service by the officers were 24-year-old Magdalena Ashipala, 23-year-old Helen Martins and a female journalist.
The women arrived at the police station at around 24h00 after an argument with a taxi driver who tried to rip them off of their money. The taxi man apparently attempted to charge the three women extra money on top of the N$6.50 normally paid before 24h00.
The trio who were heading to Katutura refused to pay the extra charges. As a result, the taxi man pulled off in Khomasdal next to a riverbed and subjected them to insults before pulling them out of his car.
The taxi driver apparently threatened to beat them if they did not pay. In light of that, the women politely asked the man to take them to the nearest police station to solve their problem amicably.
At the Katutura police station, the policemen on duty would not help, saying that it was their personal problem and that the police had nothing to do with it.
” What do you want us to do? Go solve your problems elsewhere,” said a police officer who refused to give his name.
” I am disappointed by the officers. I cannot believe an officer on duty would dare insult, he was not even ashamed,” explained Ashipala.
The three women spent an hour at the police station and later agreed to pay the taxi driver the extra money he wanted upon realizing that he (the driver) was becoming aggressive. In total they paid N$18.50.
“These police officers are so useless, they just proved themselves how incompetent they are. They are the reason why we settled the taxi fees to prevent more problems, it was a waste of time,” said the disgruntled woman.
The taxi driver apparently lost his temper and again started insulting and pointing at the three women in the presence of the police.
” This is my car. No one makes rules in my car. You will have to pay my money I don’t care about the police. I will beat you in front of your so-called police,” said the taxi driver.
” Complainants who were also seeking the help of the police ended up playing officers’ roles. This is a clear indication that one can just be killed in front of police officers. They just proved how useless they are no wonder they can’t even arrest the B1 Butcher, ” said Martins.
Despite getting his money, the taxi man threatened to beat the three women if they ever met again.
” It is only when the taxi driver left that another police officer with spectacles questioned what was our problem,” said one of the women who insisted on having the police officer’s name.
The officer refused to provide his name. According to the women, the policeman told them to go and solve their problems far from the police station.
” It’s not our problem if you cram people’s taxis and you don’t want to pay.
By the way whose idea was it to come to the police station?” said an officer who refused to give his name.
Approached for comment, police spokesperson Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu said he would look into the matter.
” Police officers are not supposed to insult complainants. It is their duty to protect the rights and security of the people and not to chase them away from a police station, those are public services.”
He said the three women are obliged to open a case against the police officers or lay a complaint with the police’s disciplinary unit.