ELUNDA LONDJABA MERJA IILEKA
Gabriel Wangushu of Elunda Londjaba in the Ohangwena Region has been arrested for allegedly torturing his nephew by hanging him up by the arms and beating him with a knopkierie.
The boy's aunt says he has lost sensation in both his arms after the ordeal last Thursday.
Wangushu had accused the boy of stealing N$480 from his cuca shop while spending the school holidays at his uncle's house.
It is alleged that the boy and his cousins had gone to fetch water on August 25 when they decided to stop at Wangushu's cuca shop to buy chips.
They found the shop closed and went to the house of the shop attendant, who opened the shop for them and sold them the chips.
The shop stewardess usually takes the daily takings from the shop home with her for safekeeping.
On August 29, the woman told Wangushu that the money she had hidden under a pillow was missing.
They decided that the boy was the prime suspect, but he denied the accusation.
His uncle allegedly singled him out because he once stole sweets from his father when he was a young child and that made him a “thief by nature”.
When the boy wouldn't confess to the theft even after the brutal interrogation, Wangushu took him to the Okongo police station.
When the police saw the state the teenager was in, they arrested Wangushu and charged him with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The boy's grandmother, Hileni Shimana, who took over as his guardian after his mother died years ago, now has to wash and feed him as he cannot use his arms.
“I am very angry at what they did to my grandson. His education will be affected as he cannot write, he is in a lot of pain and he continues to be traumatised by the incident,” said Shimana.
Shimana, a cleaner at the school where the boy is a grade eight pupil, is also concerned that no one will be able to care for her grandson while she is at work.
“We don't know if the damage to his arms is permanent or not, as the hospital has not told us anything. It seems his ligaments or tendons are damaged,” said Shimana.
