PARENTS with children at Rhodes Estate Preparatory School (REPS) in Matobo District, Matabeleland South are up in arms with school authorities following the “disappearance” of the assistant boarding master who is alleged to have raped two pupils.
The matter was discovered just before schools closed for
the first term on 4 June. The assistant boarding master who is believed to have
skipped the border to South Africa is wanted by the police following a report
made to the police.
“The matter was reported about three weeks back. The
perpetrator has escaped and the police are yet to account for him,” acting
Matabeleland South police spokesman Assistant Inspector Thabani Mkhwananzi said
without shedding more details.
A source within the school also confirmed the matter. “The
guy had been having sexual intercourse with the girls on several occasions. He
was in sexual ‘relationships’ with the girls, that is what we have gathered.
The matter came to light after the head girl of the school got wind of the
abuse and reported the case to the school authorities. She informed the matron
who investigated the matter and revealed that he was indeed sexually abusing
the girls. He then ran away after he heard that he was being investigated. He
also made a confession too, but managed to run away before police were
involved.”
The matter of the alleged rape was publicised through a
notice from the School’s Development Association chairman who informed parents
via a circular. However, what raised the ire of the parents was that the matter
was not reported to the police on time.
“We feel the school is hiding something, when the matter
came into light, they said they were instituting internal investigations into
the rape case. This is where they erred. They were supposed to report the
matter with immediate effect and this way the suspect would have been caught
already but they gave him enough room to escape and he did just that,” said the
source.
The parents said there was a general sentiment that the
school authorities were trying to conceal the matter as they never treated it
with the urgency it deserved.
“Rape is a serious matter, they should have acted on that
same day and leave investigations to the police, not to do the job of the
police. Now the suspect has escaped yet we have children who are now
traumatised,” fumed a parent.
Medical reports from the school and one done independently
by a parent, showed that there was indeed penetration on the victims. According
to sources, the alleged rape occurred towards the end of the first term and it
is not yet clear how many times the victims were raped and if there were more
than two girls involved.
REPS, which was previously a boys only school introduced
girls in 2016 following poor enrollment. The school argued that the enrollment
was low and affecting income generation to pay staff. The school pays all but
three of its staffers who are Government employees. The school opted for girls
as a strategy to boost numbers which would enable them to pay salaries.
Since the school was for boys only the hostels housing
boarders was also built for single sex only. Teachers and matrons stayed inside
the hostel with the boys. However, when girls were introduced, there was a
division allowing girls to live on one side and boys on the other of the ‘L’
shaped dormitory. However, the division was in the form of doors just being
closed and pupils told not to go either side of the dormitory.
The source said moving from one side to the other was as
simple as opening a door and one will have access, which he said was very weak
in terms of security, privacy and a loophole that could have been abused by
unscrupulous individuals. The school did not make provisions for the new
learners overtime.
Sources at the school say the assistant boarding master was
sexually abusing one pupil for over a year. That victim informed her colleagues,
one of which was later raped by the same perpetrator while the other escaped
untouched.
Allegations are also that there was access to the girls
hostel using the ceiling to avoid detection. When he was confronted with the
information of the abuse, he confessed that he was doing it but slipped away
soon after.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Ambassador Cain
Mathema said it is the responsibility of schools to report cases of such a
nature.
“Rape is a criminal offence; the school should have
followed the normal procedures and reported to the police that such a crime has
been committed. Rape is rape. The parents and guardians have the right to also
report as soon as they detect such things,” he said.
Commenting on the alleged sloppiness of the school in
reporting the matter, Minister Mathema said there should be no intimidation of
parents from any school authorities.
“What had happened for the parents and guardians to report
the school for dragging. Something is not right. The children do not belong to
the school but to the parents, even when rape occurs in the family, it must go
straight to the police.
“It is the role of the parents to protect children in any
place, even if it is not their child. The rules apply for cases in schools or
in homes, crime must be reported as soon as it is discovered.
“Those who seem not to want to report such cases are also
criminals or part of the matter,” said Amb Mathema. Sunday News
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