Bame Piet
28 March 2008
Gaborone — Gaborone West police have said their investigations have failed to prove claims by a woman that her five-year-old daughter was abused at Rainbow English Medium School in Block 9 by male pupils. The boys are reportedly aged between 8-11 years.
Assistant Superintendent Goratwang Obonetse said yesterday that though their investigations revealed nothing they have not closed the case since the mother is insisting that action should be taken against the culprits. He said that they are in the process of taking the matter to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for directions. He explained that even if they found that there was sexual abuse, no pupil will face criminal charges since they are all under-age. "They would only need to be counselled," he said.
The mother told Mmegi that her daughter was sexually abused on several occasions at the school in January. She said that she started suspecting the daughter had problems when she developed an awkward smell and started behaving strangely. After some days, she confronted the child who revealed that three boys inserted a stick, an injection needle, and their fingers in her private parts before having sex with her. She said that she took the daughter to a private clinic where she was tested and a vaginal discharge was detected.
The mother claimed that she carried out her own investigations and the culprits confirmed they had had sexual intercourse with her daughter. "They did not know that I was the mother and they told me everything. Even other girls confirmed that male students were abusing them at the back of the toilets but they could not report the matter because they were scared and the teachers intimidate them," she alleged. She said that some parents were afraid of confronting the school head over the claims though it was possible that their daughters were subjected to abuse. She said that she has transferred her daughter to a different school.
However, in their reports, the two doctors where she took her daughter to found there was no penetration. The principal of the school, David DeGraaf was not amused at all with the allegations which he termed a figment of somebody's imagination. "Nothing ever happened at all," he said. He said that after the woman raised the complaints, the police were called to carry out investigations but they found nothing.
DeGraaf said that the woman refused to show her the medical reports. "I found out from the police that the doctors found nothing," he said. He added that teachers are always available to take care of the pupils. In any case, other pupils could have seen the alleged abuse. "Why did others not see it? It is impossible that it can happen with teachers always around," he said. He confirmed that the woman had transferred her daughter to another school. He suspects the woman has social problems.
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