Eba Kandovazu
THE Windhoek High court today postponed the judgement of a former school hostel caretaker from Otjiwarongo accused of sodomising ten minor boys.
Judge Alfred Siboleka initially set the matter down for judgment today. He , however today indicated that the judgment is not ready, adding that he had underestimated the work that needed to be put into compiling Mervin Ngujapeua’s judgment. The suspect is 50 years old.
Judge Siboleka says he would be delivering the judgement on 3 November adding that he was busy with the final touches. Ngujapeua allegedly raped the boys at the time he was a hostel superintendent at a primary school in Otjiwarongo, where he worked as a cleaner and cook. The separate rape cases occurred between 2013 and 2016. He is being tried on 32 rape charges and 27 alternative charges of committing a sexual act with a child under the age of 16.
The victims, all minors testified in-camera due to their age. Ngujapeua was regarded as a “hostel father” by the children at the school. According to court documents, he lured the children to his room and enticed them by showing them pornographic videos and pictures. The state alleges that he stimulated the victim’s genitals and penetrated them anally.
It is alleged that the first rape incident involved a 14- year-old boy in 2013 and then proceeded to sexually violate others the following years. It is reported that two of the boys were aged 13 years, six of them were 14, and one was 15 years.
Carulus Theo represents the suspect while Sarel Jacobs represents the State.
