A woman at Eenhana claims a friend assaulted her and bit off part of her finger after she allegedly refused her sexual advances.
Elika Shuunduli (48) of Palasa in the Ohangwena region is now seeking compensation through a traditional court after she was allegedly bitten all over her body and had the tip of her middle finger bitten off.
The friend, *Ndapanda (26), has, however, denied the allegations.
The village headman of Oheti no.1, Johannes Salomon, this week confirmed that Shuunduli approached him in connection with a case to be heard in the traditional court.
He said Ndapanda could be fined five head of cattle, as stipulated by traditional laws, if found guilty.
Shuunduli claims she and Ndapanda, who is also one of her neighbours at Palasa, travelled south on 29 April to visit their boyfriends who reside and work at farm Stalhartd in the Rehoboth district.
She says their partners are employed there as cattle herders.
Upon arrival at the farm, they parted ways to retire to the shacks of their respective boyfriends, Shuunduli says.
However, one evening, Ndapanda allegedly came knocking at her boyfriend’s door while he was at work and demanded that they [the two women] have sex.
“I was shocked because we have been living at Eenhana as neighbours and friends, but she never asked me to have sex with her.
“In fact, I was shocked . . . I refused her advances. In fact, I rubbished them completely,” Shuunduli says.
She says the following day, Ndapanda found her sleeping and once again demanded that they have sex.
“She came at me again, and I had to get off the bed so she could see how serious I was. She left the room and hurled insults at me.”
Shuunduli says she did not file a case with the police because she was advised that if she reports the matter to the police, her case would not be heard in a traditional court.
Meanwhile, Ndapanda told The Namibian Shuunduli attacked her first after a joke.
“She saw that I used to visit my boyfriend at the farm from time to time, and one day she approached me asking me to find her a boyfriend at the farm.
“We left for the farm, and she met a man who was younger than her. She told me she didn’t like him because he was a smoker. She said she would get her own man herself,” Ndapanda says.
She says she jokingly pretended to be a man who was interested in Shuunduli during a phone call.
“I called her on my boyfriend’s phone and pretended to be a man who was proposing her. I changed my voice to sound like a man, but she later realised that I was the one on the line and she started throwing insults at me.
“I went and confronted her about the insults with the intention of apologising to her, but when she saw me she attacked me with a rake and bit me.
“I was only defending myself when I ended up biting her finger,” Ndapanda says.
Meanwhile, Salomon says: “Yes, we erre aware of the case, Shuunduli was here. We gave her a letter which she will submit to the traditional courts in Ohangwena.
“There they would hear her case, and both people involved in the physical squabble will be given a chance to explain their side of story. One thing is for sure though: A fine will be paid for the lost finger.”
*The name of the accused has been changed to protect her identity since she has not made a court appearance.
