Gochas villagers angry with Police

AN alleged shoddy Police investigation into the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl has sparked uproar among the villagers of Gochas in the South.

Six months after Anna Belinda Jossop was reported missing, Police found her decomposed body in the veld near the farm Niegras a week ago. She was last seen on the farm on April 5.Police found the body after receiving a tip-off from a farmworker.It is not known whether Jossop had committed suicide or was murdered.She went missing a week before she was due to testify in court in a case of indecent assault, to which she was an eyewitness, a relative of hers, Simon Jossop told The Namibian.Protesters handed over a petition to the local Police station commander on Friday, charging that the Police had not taken the case seriously when the girl was reported missing.The petition said Jossop’s family had provided the Police with information but received no feedback on any progress made in the investigation.Regional Police Commander Kobus Meyer denied the allegations, saying that correct procedures had been followed.”Police stations countrywide were informed to be on the lookout for the missing girl,” Meyer said.He added that the Police, accompanied by some of Jossop’s family members, had travelled to the village of Koës in search of the girl.The Police suspected foul play and had opened a murder docket, Meyer said.He confirmed that Jossop had been an eyewitness in an indecent assault case, but said she had not been summoned to testify in court, as the suspect had pleaded guilty to the charge.She was last seen on the farm on April 5.Police found the body after receiving a tip-off from a farmworker.It is not known whether Jossop had committed suicide or was murdered.She went missing a week before she was due to testify in court in a case of indecent assault, to which she was an eyewitness, a relative of hers, Simon Jossop told The Namibian.Protesters handed over a petition to the local Police station commander on Friday, charging that the Police had not taken the case seriously when the girl was reported missing.The petition said Jossop’s family had provided the Police with information but received no feedback on any progress made in the investigation.Regional Police Commander Kobus Meyer denied the allegations, saying that correct procedures had been followed.”Police stations countrywide were informed to be on the lookout for the missing girl,” Meyer said.He added that the Police, accompanied by some of Jossop’s family members, had travelled to the village of Koës in search of the girl.The Police suspected foul play and had opened a murder docket, Meyer said.He confirmed that Jossop had been an eyewitness in an indecent assault case, but said she had not been summoned to testify in court, as the suspect had pleaded guilty to the charge.