Namibian Police Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga said there is a difference between chastising and excessive beating.
Ndeitunga said the police will step in when there is excessive beating, adding that the gender-based violence unit of the Namibian Police is investigating a child abuse case, following a video circulated on social media in which a man is seen beating a child with a belt.
He told Eagle FM that the case is that of assault and that any assault of any nature is a crime.
Ndeitunga said that once he noticed that the beating in the video was out of order and unacceptable, he directed that the man in the video be traced and the child’s safety be secured.
So far the child was taken to hospital and removed from the guardian’s house and taken to a place of safety with the guidance of a social worker.
Investigations are still ongoing and they are waiting on the Prosecutor General to see if the actions taken by the parent are acceptable.
Lawyer Nafimane Halweendo said that corporal punishment is not allowed in Namibia but parents are legally entitled to chastise their children.
He added that reasonable chastising has not really been in court as a case and it is allowed, but with limits due to the amount of violence.
He also mentioned that there is no law in Namibia that says parents should not kick or smack, but the law looks at the manner, action and kicking taken by the guardians and.
Halweendo said that in Namibia, unlike other countries, parents are allowed to discipline their children.
“The court may take the case as assault with intent to cause bodily harm,” says Halweendo.
The parliament has enacted protection orders if violence is practised on the child and anyone such as the neighbours and the police are allowed to apply for those when a child is being abused.
