Rundu, March 18- – The hopes of a police officer to regain his freedom were shut down after Magistrate B Mufana arrived in court with his judgment and a date stamping his authority on Friday.
The Police Officer was accused of raping a 17 years old victim in February this year at Masivi Village, in Kavango East Region .
The accused allegedly first raped the victim in the blue duty room and proceeded to the main house and raped her twice .
The Magistrate refused the police officer bail on numerous reasons despite the complainant having initially said she was not objecting to bail with conditions. This, against grounds which were heavily based upon by the defence lawyer, Bernard Tjatjara. Seriousness of the offence, strength of the State’s case, risk of interference with investigations were among chief factors used to block the Police officer’s hope for release on bail. Interest of the public was also used as a ground. Allegations from the Investigating Officer in court yesterday is that the complainant was raped three times and a Police Officer on duty warned the accused police officer to desist from applying force. The accused police officer denied the allegations.
It is not yet clear whether the police officer’s lawyer will appeal or apply for bail considerations later. The Investigating Officer indicated in court that she will have no objection to bail after 2 to 3 months when investigations are finalized.
Defence lawyer Bernhard Tjatjara could not be reached for comment. It’s not known whether an appeal to the High Court of Namibia will be made or they will wait for a period of 2 to 3 months for bail reconsideration. The case was remanded to 31 May 2022 for police investigations. The Police Officer has been remanded in custody.
mrobert@namibiadailynews.info
