Pupil allegedly sexually harassed in school bathroom
MIDRAND - A female pupil was allegedly sexually harassed at a school in Midrand, by a boy who was apparently wielding a screw driver.
The incident took place in one of the girls’ toilets while female pupils were cleaning the toilets as a form of punishment.
The 10-year-old victim’s mother, whose name cannot be disclosed to protect the child, told Midrand Reporter that she knew something was wrong when her daughter refused to attend school and asked to go and live with her father. When she went to inquire at the school if something had happened to her child, she was told by other pupils that her child was sexually harassed.
The mother said, “I suspect my child is not the first to be sexually harassed by this boy. Other girls at the school have told me that boys go into the girls toilet and teachers do not intervene.”
The mother claimed that a member of the school’s governing body prevented her from speaking to the school’s principal, and downplayed the issue.
“They told me there was no sexual harassment as the young girls willingly allow boys to touch their private parts,” she said. “As a mother I am appalled and refuse to believe that. I am taking my child out of that school.”
Rabie Ridge police spokesperson Constable Jacob Nhlongo said the 10-year-old girl was receiving counselling and had been checked by a doctor.
“An inquest docket has been opened and police will look into the doctor’s findings and make them public once all counselling processes have been completed,” said Nhlongo.
Midrand Reporter has approached the Gauteng Department of Education for comment, but the department is yet to respond. The department did tell another news agency that it would investigate the incident.
As a parent, what would you do if you heard your child may have been sexually harassed at school? Tell Midrand Reporter by posting a comment below.
