Six students arrested in connection with petrol fires at the Augustineum Training College, Windhoek, in November 1976 appeared again before the Windhoek Regional Court on 26 April on charges of arson. Material relating to the torture of two of the accused, Frederick Isaaks (19) and Bernardus Petrus (20) has been included in the Christian Institute's dossier on "Torture in South Africa?". On 8 December 1976, Mr. E. Kuhlmann of the Nama delegation to the Turnhalle constitutional conference told the Daily Dispatch that he had been forced to intervene on behalf of his nephew, Frederick Isaaks. Mr Kuhlmann said that he had enlisted an attorney's help to see his nephew in custody after learning that Isaaks had been severely assaulted by the police and electrically shocked. The accusations were denied by the police and described as "absolute nonsense" by the Divisional Commissioner, Brigadier Verster.
According to other reports, Bernardus Petrus was so badly assaulted that he could neither eat nor talk for several days. He was allegedly tied to the burglar bars of a police office and assaulted. When he asked for water, police played with water in front of him and threw it over him. He was also tied to a chair and given electric shock treatment. Mr Kuhlmann said that his attempts to have the students examined by an independent doctor had failed as the doctor had been prevented on the grounds that he was a SWAPO member. Several people had reported seeing the students at the hospital where police had taken them for treatment.
