The parents of a Mpumalanga pupil accused of falsely claiming that a schoolmate raped her have taken their daughter to a place of safety for fear of her security and mental health.
The 15-year-old girl from Kriel High School near Emalahleni accused a 17-year-old schoolmate, who committed suicide on the school’s premises, of rape earlier this month.
Police have confirmed that the girl’s family reported the matter on November 2 and that the boy took his life before they could take a statement from him.
Police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said an inquiry was opened by the police after the parents of the child reported the matter, which is standard procedure when dealing with a rape case involving minors.
He said an inquiry is the build up to an official case where proper investigation is done before a case is registered.
Mohlala said the boy’s purported suicide note circulating on social media was not at their disposal. “The deceased’s parents did not inform the police of such a message,” he said.
The girl’s parents, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, said she had been facing, among other things, bullying on social media, and they feared she might be victimised by the community.
“We have had to move her somewhere safe, under close watch because we are scared she might face more victimisation and attacks. We are worried about her and all the things she has been hearing in the news are making it worse. She has been crying a lot and we also fear that she might take her own life too,” her father said.
“We have seen some of the things people have written on social media and some of the things people say are vile and threatening. We have had to stop her from going to school because other learners are also going for her. She missed her EMS paper 2 exam on Friday as well as her English paper on Monday.”
Kriel High School principal said the girl was getting psychological support and security but said she could not share more regarding the incident and referred Sowetan to the department of education.
The parents have arranged with the school to have her write her exams at a different venue and have arranged for her to get counselling.
Education department spokesperson Gerald Sambo said they would consult the national department to get guidance on the circumstances and then decide whether the pupil would get an opportunity to write, when and how.
Responding to social media claims that her daughter admitted to lying about the rape, her mother said: “My daughter never retracted the rape allegations, to this day she says it is what happened. I don’t know who wrote that on social media because my daughter doesn’t even have a phone. I am the one who alerted her to this. We have even reported the matter to the police and it still under investigation.
“We are not saying he (the deceased) is guilty, we were not there, we do not know what happened. But as parents we had to take our daughter’s claims seriously. And we wish he was alive so he could tell his side of the story.”
Tension were high outside the school on Monday with pupils protesting.
The boy’s mother said she was not ready to talk, however, a family insider told Sowetan the family was unhappy with how the school handled the rape allegations.
“The parents were never notified or called to the school. Only after his death did we learn about the allegations. The school is first to notify parents when a learner is five minutes late, but failed to inform them on such serious allegations.
“We are in pain. When the boy’s mother went to the school to find her son’s lifeless body lying on the floor, all she was handed was his badges that they had taken from him after their hearing with him. Why did they take off the badges?”
The boy was described by many of his peers as a seasoned high jump athlete and was part of the school’s Representative Council of Learners and had been elected as deputy head boy for next year.
University of Free State Prof Corene de Wet who is an expert on bullying in schools said the dangers of spreading false information on social media is that it causes irreversible damage to a person’s reputation.
‘’The person being accused has no recourse. Nobody will believe them and even if they [accusers] apologise or say sorry. It will be too late as the damage would have been done. The person being accused will suffer a lot of psychological and mental strain,’’ said de Wet.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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