The father of a traumatised teenager says she almost ended her life when she cut her wrists in a school toilet after a teacher allegedly accused her of being a drug addict in front of her classmates.

The girl attends Newhaven Secondary School in Croftdene, Chatsworth. The 14- year-old’s father says that he was furious when he learnt that his daughter was accused of being a drug addict and taking methamphetamine.

“My daughter confided in me about what happened after she refused to attend school following the incident. In addition, her classmates began to torment her, calling her a ‘meth head’ and ‘druggie’, even though she does not even know what meth is.

“I waited to be informed by the school about this incident, but the call did not come, even though my daughter reported it and provided my contact details. When I eventually called the principal a few days after the incident, she claimed that she was not aware that this had taken place and was shocked,” the father told Chatsworth Rising Sun.

He added that according to his daughter, the teacher responsible for all this heartache took her aside after he had contacted the school.

“The teacher told my daughter that she was in a ‘mood’ on the day the incident had taken place but did not apologise for the accusations that she made against my daughter. The principal had also spoken to my daughter and told her not to worry about anything,” the father says.

When the newspaper contacted the principal of Newhaven school, Dr Naicker (first name unknown), for a comment she claimed that she had only been made aware of the incident on April 28, despite Govender claiming that he spoke with her on April 26.

Dr Naicker said that the school will be conducting a preliminary investigation following departmental procedures.

Devastated at the impact this incident had on their daughter, the family insisted that they want a public apology and for disciplinary action to be taken against the accused teacher.

“I do not want to lose my child,” the distraught father says. The girl is currently receiving counselling.

All attempts to contact the spokesman for the KZN Department of Education, Muzi Mahlambi, proved futile at the time of going to print.