Sex crimes exposed

The sleepy town of Rehoboth is finding itself in the middle of an unfolding #MeToo storm following the arrest of a retired teacher for the alleged rape of his eight-year-old daughter earlier this month.Since the arrest of the 69-year-old man, more rape cases have been reported, which include a case that dates back to 1994 in which a local pastor is accused of raping his niece – who was seven years old at the time.He is also accused of raping his own 16-year-old daughter, who opened up about the sexual assault at a recent family gathering.This prompted her cousin, who was repeatedly raped as far back as 1994, to share her story with the family.The Rehoboth police have also opened a case against a man for allegedly raping his now 21-year-old stepdaughter between 2007 and 2015.The rapes took place at Swakopmund and Rehoboth and are now being investigated.The suspect has not been arrested and, according to the police, is still with the victim's mother.According to the charge sheet, the suspect asked the girl to massage his feet, legs and penis. “He would then ask her to lick his penis, and he would also lick her vagina. He would ejaculate while she was sucking or massaging his penis and told her that his semen is used by models,” the charge sheet reads. According to the police, the incidents came to light when the mother of the victim caught them in bed together and interrogated them.“She denied (the rapes) because he threatened her that both of them would get in trouble if she told anybody,” the charge sheet says. Another matter reported to the Rehoboth police is that of a child whose father would fetch her from the SOS Children's Village during holidays and rape her. According to the police, he promised her gifts and told her the rapes were her mother's fault.All three victims know each other and started sharing their stories when the 16-year-old opened up during a family gathering.#MeToo is a global movement against sexual harassment and assault. The phrase 'Me Too' was initially used in this context on social media in 2006 on Myspace by sexual harassment survivor and activist Tarana Burke.Following the exposure of the widespread sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in early October 2017, the movement began to spread virally as a hashtag.Hard nut to crackThe police's acting crime investigations coordinator for Hardap, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Hauwanga, told Namibian Sun more people are coming forward to report sex crimes perpetrated against them.“Weeks ago there was a bail application at the Rehoboth Magistrate's Court for an incident which took place years ago. It seems the Rehoboth police station or churches are encouraging the victims to come out and report,” said Hauwanga.A police source in the region said it is so difficult to deal with these issues because the children “close up”.According to the source, a few mothers came forward with suspicions and asked the police to warn their husbands.“Children go through a lot of things. And not many people are sympathetic and children are blamed for putting their fathers in prison. And in most cases, we do not have a case to go to court with, so the suspects get off scot-free,” he said. The source added that most of these rapes only come to light when children fall pregnant. “We have had incidents of boys who were molested, but usually they were violated by boys a bit older than them. But right now, we do not have any case relating to a matter where adult men violated little boys,” the source added.jemima@namibiansun.comJEMIMA BEUKES

Sex crimes exposed

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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Sex crimes exposed

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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