Durban - A North Coast teacher charged with statutory rape of a pupil at his school was released on bail this week, with conditions attached.
The 31-year-old high school teacher, who lives in uMhlanga, was granted a R3000 bail by Magistrate Rajesh Parshotam in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the teacher, who cannot be named at this stage, was suspended by the Department of Education after alleged explicit screenshots and messages between the teacher and a pupil emerged.
This resulted in protest action outside the school, where both parents and pupils called for the teacher’s expulsion.
It is also alleged that the teacher had naked pictures of the pupil on his phone.
Both the pupil and teacher’s phones were sent for analysis by the police’s cyber crime unit to determine the source of the pictures.
Rape and child pornography charges were brought against the man.
His bail hearing was initially scheduled for Monday, but the matter was adjourned by Parshotam because the State was opposed to bail being granted in the matter.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, state prosecutor Winnie Mlangeni said: “The investigating officer in this case was not opposed to bail being granted but our regional prosecutor advised that bail should be opposed because it was a serious and high profile matter.”
She said the State had given up its opposition of the bail.
Law firm Roy Singh Attorneys is the accused’s legal representatives.
In court, advocate Narend Rai lodged a statement, in support of his client’s bail application.
In the statement, the firm said the accused intended to plead “not guilty” to the charges against him.
He promised not to “endanger the safety of the public or any particular person”, if he were granted bail and also raised that he had no previous history of violent conduct.
The accused, with almost nine years of teaching experience, said he was “determined to clear his name of the baseless charge”.
“I have been suspended from school and I have no intentions of ever going back there,” he said.
If bail was denied, the accused pleaded that it was unlikely that he would secure employment, especially in the teaching fraternity, and the public would perceive that he was guilty of the charges he faced.
Magistrate Parshotam set bail at R3000 with three conditions:
The accused must be present when the matter resumes in November; he must not communicate with the alleged victim in the matter or assault witnesses and he his not to enter the school in question.
“If you breach those conditions, you will be arrested and held in custody until the finalisation of the matter,” said Parshotam.