Police deny cover-up in Karas accident

POLICE in the Karas Region have denied allegations that they covered up a drunk-driving incident involving an officer at Karasburg.

The officer in question crashed his car into another vehicle at the town on Saturday, December 20, resulting in the death of a 44-year-old woman.
Community members claim that no blood samples were taken from the officer at the scene of the accident, and that these were only taken much later. The acting Karas Police Regional Commander, Nikodemus Nampala, told The Namibian on Monday that a case of reckless and negligent driving had been opened against the officer.
He denied reports of alcohol involvement, saying that the officer’s blood-alcohol level had been tested three times at the local hospital.
‘The public seems to sometimes take things out of context. What I can tell you is that alcohol played no role, and we have no doubt about that. Maybe as far as negligence is concerned, yes. But a case has been registered and he has been charged,’ Nampala said.
According to community members, the officer had apparently been under the influence of alcohol when he rammed into the side of the other vehicle, the occupants of which had just returned from a funeral.
The deceased woman was the daughter of the woman laid to rest at that funeral.
She was also the person whose body was found a few days later on the floor at the Karas State Hospital mortuary, next to two used condoms.
It is alleged that a mortuary worker had violated the body before being caught and arrested.
The man, Ivan Hendrikse, was denied bail during his first court appearance, and is set to return to court next month on a charge of violating a dead body.