A 37-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping his nieces aged nine and seven at Amilema village in the Oshikoto Region’s Omuthiya Constituency.

The Namibian Police Force’s Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Titus Ekandjo, told Nampa the incidents occurred Friday night.

Ekandjo said the suspect resides with the girls and his biological mother, who is the girls’ grandmother and the complainant in the matter. He has reportedly experienced mental health challenges.

It is alleged that the suspect entered the bedroom of the two minors while they were asleep, where he undressed one of the girls and raped her.

“Thereafter, he turned to the second girl who was on the same bed and also had sexual intercourse with her under coercive circumstances, before falling asleep in the same room,” he said.

The grandmother found him asleep in the girls’ room when she went into the room early Saturday morning. The girls then reportedly told their grandmother what had happened, and she reported the matter to the police.

The suspect has been arrested and is expected to appear in the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Police investigations continue.