Gang rape at primary school

30/06/2015. Kutumela Molefi Primary School in Lethabong Informal Settlement where four small girls were allegedly raped by four older boys from the school. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

30/06/2015. Kutumela Molefi Primary School in Lethabong Informal Settlement where four small girls were allegedly raped by four older boys from the school. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

Published Jul 1, 2015

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Pretoria - Tears rolled down a father’s cheeks as he broke down and cried in horror after confirmation that his little girl had been raped at school. He had just spoken to police officers from Boschkop police station, who had taken his 8-year-old daughter and her classmate for an examination following reports that they had been raped.

“I am so hurt; the principal has been aware of this for two weeks. Despite telling parents that he has taken the matter to the police, he has done nothing,” the father said.

The father had discovered possible sexual assault on his daughter two weeks ago.

When he investigated it emerged that his little girl had been one of four girls, aged between 7 and 9, raped allegedly by four older boys at the Kutumela Molefi Primary School at Lethabong informal settlement, east of Pretoria.

“I spoke with the mother of one of the girls and she found that her child been badly injured.”

The mother had gone to the school and was told that the problem would be dealt with by the principal.

“The principal said he would investigate. A few days later he said he had reported it to the police. When I followed up, I found the police had no idea that this had happened.”

In the past two weeks, the parents have been sent from pillar to post by the principal and teachers at the school.

They also promised to bring in counsellors to make sure the children were examined for signs of penetration.

“My wife has also been threatened for speaking about this in public, being told that she should not dare tarnish the image of the principal,” the father said.

His wife and stepmother of the child had been to the school to enquire on the progress of the school’s investigation when she was allegedly intimidated by the teachers.

When progress was not forthcoming, the worried father enlisted the help of members of his church.

On Tuesday, Pastor Arineth Mngomezulu told the Pretoria News of a session she had had with the man’s daughter, during which the girl had opened up about the rape.

“She said four older boys had tied four of them up at the schoolgrounds after school, and each of them had raped all four girls, one after the other,” the pastor said.

Shedding tears, Mngomezulu said the girl told her of the intense pain and how her genitals remained sore afterwards. “The boys told them that if they dared report them they would come around to their homes and kill them,” she added.

On Sunday, the father was informed of a meeting he would have to attend with the school governing body and the school management on Tuesday. When he invited members of the police child protection unit to the meeting, they reacted with shock at the reports of the three-week-old incident.

“They had not received any report,” the father said.

Provincial police spokesman Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said: “This is a priority case. The children would have been taken in immediately, examined and a case opened.”

The parents would also have been called, counselling would have taken place and a full investigation launched, he said.

Gauteng Education Department spokeswoman Phumla Sekhonyane expressed shock at the failure by the school to act on the matter, saying: “The department is extremely concerned by these allegations.”

Sekhonyane said policies required the school to report such incidents to the department, police and medical professionals immediately on becoming aware of them.

“The department will investigate these allegations, including whether there was indeed a delay from the side of the school in reporting this.”

She said they had received confirmation that the matter had been reported to the police and would request the school to fully co-operate with the police investigation.

The department would provide counselling to the pupils who were alleged to have been affected by these allegations, she added.

The Boschkop police scheduled the girls for counselling on Tuesday, and officers opened a case and started their investigation immediately.

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Pretoria News

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