The father of a mentally disabled woman (22) was allegedly raped at Biro village in Kavango East earlier this month by her stepfather. He claims that the police have yet to arrest him and is losing patience.
The alleged incident occurred in the Mukwe constituency.
The stepfather of the woman (40 years old) called her to do chores around the house and later instructed her to follow her brother into his room.
He then allegedly raped his victim.
Bonifasius Kanyetu, Kavango East’s deputy commissioner for crime investigations, said that investigations are ongoing.
“The condition of the victim is still to be determined, and social workers are still busy with her.
“The investigations are almost done, only the report of the social worker is outstanding. We need to refer the matter to the prosecutor to determine the victim’s mental capacity.
“That is where we stand, and that is why no arrest has been made yet,” he said.
According to reports, the victim lives with her mother.
Her biological father cannot be identified to protect her identity. He says that all he wants to see is justice prevails.
He claims he would be forced by the police to handle matters his way if they didn’t act.
“If justice needs to be done, they must act fast, because we are losing patience and trust in the police and the Ministry of Health and Social Services on the issue of counselling.
“Whether the person is guilty or not, I need to know what happened, and the way forward until the case is in court to tell if the person is guilty or not. That is all I want,” he says.
After discovering that her daughter was being raped, the victim’s mother reported it to the Mukwe Police Station.
The father claims that the police advised them to report the matter at the Divundu Police Station, as they don’t deal with such cases during the evening.
According to Divundu police, they only took statements from the victim’s mother and the victim, but did not register a criminal record.
He claims that a case was eventually filed.
According to the father, the police were only able to visit the crime scene last Thursday in order to reconstruct the scene.
“ . . . They also said that a team of social workers would be arriving to interview the victim by Friday. They did not arrive on Friday, but they confirmed that they were on their way today [yesterday], but said they are coming for training and will see how they could squeeze the situation in,” he says.
He claims he is a Windhoek paramedic who had to leave work in order to care for his daughter.
He says it is the second time his daughter has been raped.
He claims she was raped by her uncle in 2016 when she was a minor.
Yesterday Kanyetu said that the Mukwe Police Station was open 24 hours a days and can handle any case at any time.
“But the issue is maybe because they don’t have a reliable vehicle and they are relying on Divundu for now,” he said.
Source: namibian
