Accused rapist father denied bail

A man, accused of sexually violating and forcing his teenage daughter to repeatedly abort the foetus, was denied bail for a second time by the Windhoek Regional Court yesterday.

The 42-year-old accused, who can not be named to protect the identity of the accused, was denied bail by magistrate Surita Savage after she concluded the new facts upon which he applied for bail did not change the basis on which bail was refused the first time.

“The court is convinced that these new facts do not address the issue of public interest or interest of the administration of justice, and has not changed the basis upon which it was initially refused,” said Savage.

The new facts relied upon by the accused are: investigations have been concluded; the time he has spent in custody is too long since the first bail and the trial has not taken place within a reasonable time – and he stands a good chance of being acquitted, as the State does not have a strong case against him.

Furthermore, he needs to return to his work to source funds to pay his legal fees; he said it is not in the interest of justice to keep him in custody.

He also indicated that if he were to be released, he will not be residing with the 14-year-old complainant, as she has been residing elsewhere.

The accused was arrested on 22 September 2020 after the mother of the complainant reported the matter after she discovered explicit messages from the accused on the complainant’s phone. He is currently facing two counts of rape, a charge of abortion and assault by threat.

The prosecution is alleging the accused raped his 14-year-old daughter on several occasions between 2018 to 2020.

The State claims the accused would call the complainant, and force and threaten her to perform sexual acts on him.

According to the victim’s statement, he would pick her up from her mother’s home or school and drive her to the aunt’s (accused’s sister) home, where the sexual acts were performed.

She states, other times, the acts are performed in the car. It is alleged that between September 2019 and August 2020, the accused forced his daughter to have abortions.

The accused threatened to shoot and kill the complainant with his gun should she ever report the matter.

The accused is scheduled to go on trial on 30 November. He was represented by lawyer Joseph Andreas, with Arrie Hussleman representing the State.