Hostel father expected to plead today

An Otjiwarongo hostel supervisor who is facing ten counts of rape involving ten boys in his care will plead today in the town’s magistrate’s court if his legal representation is sorted out.
Mervin Ngujapeua, who is charged with multiple counts of rape that he allegedly committed in the course of several years, appeared in court yesterday, but because his lawyer had not been paid the case was postponed to today.
Court officials told Namibian Sun that Ngujapeua will be asked to plead today under Section 119 of the Criminal Procedure Act if the issue regarding his legal representation has been addressed.
After a plea has been entered the case will be referred to the prosecutor-general’s office for a decision on whether the case should be prosecuted and to specify the court in which the accused will be tried.
It is alleged that Ngujapeua, who lives in the local primary school hostel, called schoolboys to his room at night.
He would then allegedly show the boys pornographic images on his cellphone before having sex with them.
Ngujapeua is a married man and his wife lives in Okakarara.
According to investigators, the alleged abuse continued until February, when Ngujapeua was arrested.
Following his arrest, a number of parents and concerned residents led a public outcry, threatening a protest march should Ngujapeua be released on bail.
The 48-year-old hostel caretaker was denied bail in June, after the State successfully argued that it would be in the public interest for him to remain behind bars.
The State says it has ten “credible witnesses” to support the charges.
Earlier this year, public prosecutor Johannes Kalipi said the alleged victims, now between 13 and 17 years old, were deeply traumatised by the events.
He said the abuse started at the end of 2013. Kalipi told the court that the children trusted Ngujapeua as a father figure and that he had broken that trust.


ELLANIE SMIT