Jeremia van Wyk appeared in absentia in the Katutura Magistrate's Court before magistrate Namwenyo Shikalepo yesterday.

Van Wyk, who is being held at Seeis police station, was not brought to court for proceedings and thus the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Van Wyk has been in police custody since his arrest in August 2019, on a count of rape and a count of abduction with an alternative count of kidnapping.

The police arrested van Wyk on 1 August 2019, after he was found in the company of a five-year-old girl who was reported to have gone missing from school earlier in the day.

According to the Namibian police, prior to arrest, Van Wyk was released from a correctional facility nearly three years ago, having served a sentence on charges of rape and murder.