THE mother of the 11-year-old boy who was allegedly murdered by his stepfather says her young son had warned her to leave her abusive partner of three years.
Rodensia Doëses says her son Gephardt Doëseb had warned her to leave the man she was in an abusive relationship with, before the boy was found dead in a riverbed at Rehoboth.
She says her son had told her: “Mom, why didn’t you leave this guy? Because I don’t like him and he doesn’t like me. He beats me all the time. And we are not on the same level.”
At the time, she says she told Gephardt: “One day is one day, and I will step out of this relationship, my son. Don’t worry.”
Doëses says she had been in an abusive relationship with the man she describes as her son’s “stepfather”, and admitted he had physically abused the boy too.
She says the man would beat and kick her son, and on one occasion slapped him.
Doëses recalls an incident in June when the man allegedly attacked her with a knife before punching her in the face.
She says the incident made her decide to end the relationship.
Doëses says she now wishes she had listened to her son when he warned her about the man.
“I wish I had listened to my boy sooner and maybe none of this would have happened,” she says.
Gephardt, who was a Grade 5 pupil at Rehoboth, was reported missing after he did not return home from school on 11 September.
Doëses says she was told the man had allegedly been waiting outside the school and called her son to go and buy chips with him.
“My boy was with two boys. Then he called my boy, ‘Gepa, can you come? Let me go and buy you some chips’,” she says.
She says she did not know what happened afterwards or whether the man was in a vehicle.
The boy was later found dead in the Oanob bridge river bed.
ASKING FOR HELP
Gephardt’s uncle, Richard Doëseb, says the family is struggling to come to terms with the boy’s death and appeals for financial and other assistance.
“We would highly appreciate any kind of assistance. Even if it is monetary or anything,” he says.
Richard says he saw blood at the scene and severe injuries to the right side of the boy’s face.
According to him, Gephardt’s shoes and belt were found at the scene and the family did not notice any of his belongings being missing.
Richard has referred to a man whom he said had been involved in the search for the boy before later disappearing. He claims the man is his sister’s former partner.
The family’s account of the man’s movements and involvement has not been independently confirmed.
‘ON THE RUN’
Hardap regional crime investigations coordinator deputy commissioner Theodore Kotungondo says the police have confirmed that a man believed to be the boy’s stepfather had been on the run following the discovery of his body.
“We can confirm that the suspect has been on the run because as soon as the deceased’s body was discovered, he vanished from Rehoboth,” he says.
National police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi in the police weekend crime report says Gephardt’s body was discovered by girls who were herding goats at the Oanob bridge river bed between 11 and 12 September.
The report says the boy had reportedly failed to return home from school on 11 September and was reported missing the following day.
“Bruises were observed on his body and his next of kin were informed,” the report states.
Kotungondo says the suspect was expected to appear in the Rehoboth Magistrate’s Court within 48 hours, while investigations continue.
