First admission to cops is evidence The Windhoek High Court has ruled that the sworn statements made by a 22-year-old rape suspect to the police when he was arrested are admissible as evidence and will be used against him in the trial.At the end of a trial-within-a-trial, Judge Boas Usiku stated that the court is satisfied that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt that Rudolf Goagoseb who is facing rape, assault and attempted rape charges, had made the statements freely and voluntarily.
Goagoseb is accused of raping three minor girls, one aged 12 and two aged 14 on 29 September 2010. The accused allegedly attacked the minors while they were walking through a bushy area near Nau-Aib at Okahandja on their way from school.
The accused was 17 years old at the time he committed the alleged rape and was out bail for another rape allegation.
The state alleges that Goagoseb threatened to harm the victims with a broken bottle and allegedly tied the girls up before raping them, two of them twice.
The 12-year-old girl was taken to the hospital after she was found naked and bleeding.
The assault charge arises from allegations that the assailant struck one of the victims with a clenched fist on the chest causing severe injuries.
At the beginning of his trial, his lawyer Titus Ipumbu objected to the admissibility of a statement his client made to the police on the grounds that Goagoseb was assaulted by three police officers before he made the statement on 30 September 2010.
Ipumbu had argued that the information contained in the statement, especially regarding his client’s right to legal representation and his constitutional rights had not been clearly explained to him.
“There is nothing in the evidence to indicate that the accused did not understand the instructions on his right to legal representation that were explained to him before he made the statement to the police,” Judge Boas said.
The court further found the allegation by Goagoseb that he was assaulted and threatened were false and unfounded and the court found that the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Goagoseb made the statement freely and voluntarily and the information he gave to the police will be used as evidence against him.
FRED GOEIEMAN