Gobabis murder accused waits for lawyer

A Gobabis resident accused of kidnapping, raping and strangling a 27-year-old woman to death is currently waiting on the Directorate of Legal Aid to appoint a lawyer for his case.

Abel Mokalabatho (27), made an appearance in the High Court yesterday before Deputy Judge President Hosea Angula, where he was informed that the directorate is yet to appoint a lawyer to represent him in his upcoming trial.

Thus, the court postponed the matter to 19 May, remanding him in police custody.

Mokalabatho is expected to be tried on counts of rape, kidnapping, murder and obstructing the course of justice. The prosecution is alleging that on 1 and 2 August 2020, the accused and the victim were drinking together at a shebeen at Drimiopsis in the Gobabis district. It is alleged that when the victim left to go and use the toilet, Mokalabatho followed her and raped her. He then forcefully took her to his house, where he committed the second and third counts of rape. The State indicates that the victim was intoxicated, rendering her incapable of communicating her unwillingness.

On the count of murder, Mokalabatho stabbed the victim with a knife on her neck and strangled her to death with a piece of wire.

To cover up his alleged deed, he buried the victim in a manhole, cleaned his bedroom with a mop to remove the victim’s blood, and buried the knife underneath some plants. Furthermore, he informed the police that the victim left for a farm in the company of an unknown man after they had consensual sex in the toilet.

During his plea in the Gobabis Magistrate’s Court, Mokalabatho told the court that the following day after he had forcefully taken the victim to his house and raped her, she had threatened to report him to her mother about the incident. As a result, he stabbed her with a knife on the neck, then strangled her to death with a wire. He then allegedly dumped the victim’s body in a manhole, a distance away from his bedroom.