Former trainee medical doctor Dennis Noa, convicted of rape earlier this year, has been acquitted following a successful appeal in the Windhoek High Court.

Judges Herman January and Philanda Christiaan overturned Noa's conviction, leading to his acquittal and release.

Noa (29) was initially sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in February, one month after the Windhoek Regional Court found him guilty of raping an 18-year-old patient at Katutura Intermediate Hospital in April 2021.

The patient, hospitalised with a head injury and in an unresponsive state, was allegedly assaulted by Noa, then an intern at the hospital. Noa had denied the charge.

He was represented by Sisa Namandje, while the State was represented by Palme Kumalo.