School rape accused was known to the child, mother tells eNCA, as she demands background checks on teachers
The mother of a Grade 4 pupil says her daughter was assaulted on school premises during school hours and only told her the next morning, and she wants the education department to vet the adults who teach children.
A mother whose Grade 4 daughter was raped on school premises says the assault happened during school hours and that her child only told her the following morning, eNCA (YouTube) reported on 22 October.
The mother told the broadcaster that the incident took place on a Thursday and that her daughter disclosed it on the Friday. On the Thursday afternoon, she said, she had already sensed something was wrong at school but assumed her daughter was being bullied. The child said nothing until the next morning, when she said something had been happening at school and that it was not the first time.
Her account, given in an interview with eNCA, is that her daughter is talkative and that the two of them talk often about many things, which is why the child found it easier to tell her what had happened. Asked what she would say to other parents, she said parents know their own children and should act when a child starts behaving strangely.
She also had a message for young victims themselves. They need to talk, she said, and to tell their parents, girls and boys alike, rather than hiding it or shying away. These things do happen at school, she said.
The mother said it was very sad that it happened on the school premises and during school hours. When you take a child to school, she said, you expect that to be the safest place they are, and she described educators as second parents when a parent is not there.
She called on schools to take serious safety precautions and to run background checks on teachers.
The interview follows the circulation of a video of the mother speaking to her daughter, which she acknowledged in the interview went viral and started the wider attention around the case. eNCA’s report is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymITMf2VgrY.
The transcript does not name the school, the province, the child or any teacher, and it does not state whether anyone has been arrested or charged, or what the education department has said about the case.
