Zorena Jantze
MOTHER of two, Veuanifa Kerii, woke up to bright beams of flashlights in her shack exposing the shadowy figures of two men who would that fateful evening gang rape her in front of her children before fleeing the house.
Kerii, whose sons are ages five and seven, has opted to relate her horror rape story to Informanté using her real name in the hopes that informal settlements get much needed services like street lights.
She also hopes that her story makes decision makers sit up and realise that neighbourhood watch bodies are needed at informal settlements, including Havana where she lives in constant fear that the rapists will return.
The 31-year-old Kerii narrates that she was raped on 31 July 2021 around 01:00 while sleeping in her shack with her two sons.
“Two men broke into my house. I just woke up to bright flashlight rays in my face. I shouted in fright and asked them who they are, and they said, ‘We are killers, do you want to die?” she recalls.
The woman added that after the threat, the two robbers turned rapists, one of who was wearing a balaclava, ransacked her home, and took her mobile phone and money that was in her wallet.
“After they finished searching for valuables, one of the robbers asked, ‘where is your boyfriend?’ and ‘do you have a condom?’ My worst fears morphed into reality in that moment,” Kerii stated.
She said that the two men took turns raping her while her children, who had at the time woken up from the commotion, looked on.
“I asked him if I could cover my kids with a blanket so they would not have to witness the act. One of them stood outside my shack to keep watch while the other one raped me. Afterwards, his accomplice came inside and raped me as well,” Kerii narrated.
She added that the two men fled the scene afterwards and that she immediately went outside to alert the neighbours of the incident.
Kerii reported the crime at the Wanaheda police station under CR 57/08/2021, but no arrests have yet been made.
“I’ve been staying with family members for the last two months as I am afraid that they will come back to finish me off if I return to Havana. I want to plead to the Namibian police to introduce a neighbourhood watch at night so that these criminals don’t get an opportunity to strike. The lack of street lights also contributes to the high crime rate and the City of Windhoek should handle this issue. I currently feel so unsafe and whenever I hear the tiniest movement outside, I start panicking,” Kerii stated.
