State settles comatose rape case for N$450 000

The health ministry has agreed to pay N$450 000 to settle a medical negligence claim brought by the mother of an 18-year-old teenager who was allegedly raped while in a coma at Katutura Intermediate Hospital four years ago.

The High Court settlement comes despite the ministry having previously vehemently denied in court papers that any sexual assault occurred at all.

“This agreement is concluded without any admission of liability... and is settled purely to mitigate the legal costs of a potentially protracted litigation”, the settlement agreement reads.

According to court documents, the man was admitted to Katutura Intermediate Hospital between April and August 2021 after suffering severe head injuries in a car crash that left him in a vegetative state.

His mother sued government and the health minister for N$3 million, claiming hospital staff breached their legal duty to protect her son after he was allegedly physically and sexually assaulted while unconscious and under state care.

In a plea filed in September 2025, the State denied negligence and argued that no proof had been presented “in any court” to show the 18-year-old had been sexually assaulted while hospitalised.

They further maintained that hospital staff exercised all reasonable care, that security and monitoring measures were adequate, and that no negligence could be attributed to the ministry.

The State also argued that it could not be held liable for unforeseeable or independent acts of third parties.

However, despite those denials, the parties later reached an out-of-court settlement in which government agreed to pay N$450 000 within 90 days. Each party will carry its own legal costs.

The court documents reference the criminal prosecution of Dennis Noa, then a trainee medical doctor at Katutura Intermediate Hospital, who was initially arrested and subsequently prosecuted in connection with the alleged rape.

Noa was convicted of rape in the Windhoek Regional Court in March 2024, before the conviction was overturned by the High Court on appeal in November that year.

The civil claim against government followed the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.

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