Skeleton find adds piece to torture, suicide puzzle

A HUMAN skeleton that was found tied to a tree, with its hands chained together, on a farm in the Khomas Hochland last weekend may belong to a man who disappeared after he was allegedly tortured by a farm foreman in July.

In a brief item in its daily crime bulletin, the Police announced on Monday that a human skeleton fastened to a tree with a steel wire was found on the farm Goab in the Khomas Region on Saturday. By yesterday, the identity of the skeleton had still not been made public.But, a Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb, was able to release details linking the discovery of the skeleton to claims of torture, the disappearance of someone at Goab, and the suicide of a former foreman at the farm.”It’s like something out of a storybook,” Goraseb commented.He said the Police had received information during July that the then foreman at Goab, one Johan van Jaarsveld, had caught someone that he was accusing of theft at the farm, and that farmworkers had seen Van Jaarsveld tying up the man and torturing him.The workers reported that they had seen Van Jaarsveld tying up the man with wire and using a pair of pliers to inflict pain on him.He was then seen loading the man onto a vehicle and driving off with him.It was reported that he later returned, alone, Goraseb said.After the Police had received that report, they contacted Van Jaarsveld to arrange a meeting with him so that he could be questioned about the alleged incident.Before the questioning could take place, Van Jaarsveld committed suicide by shooting himself, Goraseb said.That was around the third week of July, the current farm foreman at Goab, André Goldbeck, told The Namibian yesterday.According to Goraseb, the Police subsequently conducted a search for the missing man at Goab – a Police report requesting public assistance in the search for the man named him as Isaskar Swartbooi, also known as Slim, in early August – but could not find any trace of him.At about 14h00 on Saturday, Goldbeck may have succeeded where the Police had failed.He found a human skeleton next to a tree at an old livestock post about three kilometres north of the farmhouse at Goab, which itself is some 80 km west of Windhoek.”It was a shocking thing to see,” he said yesterday.The person’s hands had been chained together, and his left foot was tied to the tree with a piece of wire.Someone appeared to have placed sticks and pieces of wood over the person’s remains, added Goldbeck, who has been employed at Goab for the past two weeks.He said according to workers at the farm, someone had asked for work at the farm early in July.Van Jaarsveld however accused the man of being involved in thefts in the area, and was seen assaulting him, and then loading him onto a vehicle and driving off with him, Goldbeck said he had been told.The workers said they never saw the person again, Goldbeck said.According to Goraseb, clothing was found with the skeleton.The Police have contacted the relatives of the man whose remains it is suspected to be, but a positive identification has not yet been made, he said.By yesterday, the identity of the skeleton had still not been made public. But, a Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb, was able to release details linking the discovery of the skeleton to claims of torture, the disappearance of someone at Goab, and the suicide of a former foreman at the farm.”It’s like something out of a storybook,” Goraseb commented.He said the Police had received information during July that the then foreman at Goab, one Johan van Jaarsveld, had caught someone that he was accusing of theft at the farm, and that farmworkers had seen Van Jaarsveld tying up the man and torturing him.The workers reported that they had seen Van Jaarsveld tying up the man with wire and using a pair of pliers to inflict pain on him.He was then seen loading the man onto a vehicle and driving off with him.It was reported that he later returned, alone, Goraseb said.After the Police had received that report, they contacted Van Jaarsveld to arrange a meeting with him so that he could be questioned about the alleged incident.Before the questioning could take place, Van Jaarsveld committed suicide by shooting himself, Goraseb said.That was around the third week of July, the current farm foreman at Goab, André Goldbeck, told The Namibian yesterday.According to Goraseb, the Police subsequently conducted a search for the missing man at Goab – a Police report requesting public assistance in the search for the man named him as Isaskar Swartbooi, also known as Slim, in early August – but could not find any trace of him.At about 14h00 on Saturday, Goldbeck may have succeeded where the Police had failed.He found a human skeleton next to a tree at an old livestock post about three kilometres north of the farmhouse at Goab, which itself is some 80 km west of Windhoek.”It was a shocking thing to see,” he said yesterday.The person’s hands had been chained together, and his left foot was tied to the tree with a piece of wire.Someone appeared to have placed sticks and pieces of wood over the person’s remains, added Goldbeck, who has been employed at Goab for the past two weeks.He said according to workers at the farm, someone had asked for work at the farm early in July.Van Jaarsveld however accused the man of being involved in thefts in the area, and was seen assaulting him, and then loading him onto a vehicle and driving off with him, Goldbeck said he had been told.The workers said they never saw the person again, Goldbeck said.According to Goraseb, clothing was found with the skeleton.The Police have contacted the relatives of the man whose remains it is suspected to be, but a positive identification has not yet been made, he said.