Swapna Prabhakaran
When a nine-year-old mentally handicapped girl told people she had been raped by her teacher, no one listened until it was too late for the crime to be medically proven. The girl, who attends the Felicitan special school in Brakpan, claims she was raped by a male teacher.
It was during the July holidays that the girl first began talking to her family about the rape. Her mother dismissed it as a silly story, until the girl, who has Downs Syndrome, told her older sister: [My teacher] took his thing and put it in me.
Her shocked family reported it to the police, who referred them to a district surgeon, who found healing scars inside the girls vagina, indicating repeated sexual abuse. But as the examination was done weeks after the girls first complaints, there was no semen, which could have been tested and used to show conclusively who had raped her.
The police say you cant just take her word for it, because she is mentally handicapped, the girls sister said. No one can really understand her, except her family, because she slurs her words. But I can understand her, and I know she doesnt forget the things that happen to her.
When the girls family took the complaint to the school, her sister says they were greeted with disbelief. They said, no, its not possible, maybe shes making it up because maybe she is in love with her teacher.
The schools principal, Mart Moster, said this week: I cant respond in any way to the allegations, until the police unit gets back to us on whether there is a case or not. I cant say anything until a conviction has been made.
Carefully avoiding the words sexual abuse, Moster said: We always warn our children about strangers. They are mentally handicapped and so we warn them especially. We tell them we are here for them to come to if anything happens to them.
The policewoman working on the case says there is a possibility the girl made up the story. I think you must look at the people in the neighbourhood who played with her, she said.
The case has been forwarded to the attorney generals office for a decision about whether to prosecute. Im not saying the teacher didnt do it, Im just saying he might not have done it, the policewoman said.
At a parent-teachers association meeting, scheduled for next Wednesday, the girls family intends to talk to other parents about their daughters allegations. We want them to know he is not fit to work around children. But Moster says that meeting will only discuss the childrens performance at school, and other issues are not on the agenda.
Her sister says the girl, who turned 10 this week, has become anti-social, often staying at home after school. She sits in front of the television or does puzzles. Her sister said: The other children [in her neigbourhood] are intolerant towards her. They dont want to play with her.
She may be less quick to learn new things than the average child, but her sister says she has a long memory. I dont know why God made her this way. She will always remember.