The Department of Education finally secured a space at a girls’ high school for a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped at East Bank High School.
Following the family’s request that the department relocate her to a school outside the township, citing concerns that she still faces bullying at her new school, and threats of further harm if she remained in the same area.
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However, the family had to make a difficult decision to keep the girl at her current school due to financial constraints.
“I’m not working and we couldn’t afford to pay the monthly transport money to take her to the [new] school, let alone the school fees and uniform. We were struggling to make ends meet and it would have been impossible for us to take on those extra expenses,” the girl’s mother said.
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The mother added that they had to let the girl stay at her current school because the torment by schoolmates had since subsided and ‘we pray it doesn’t start all over again’.
Meanwhile, the two boys who allegedly gang-raped the 14-year-old girl in the school toilets on February 8, appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on July 10, along with a girl learner that is said to be an accessory to the alleged rape.
The three juvenile learners have not been asked to plead as yet and were remanded to a place of safety to appear again in court on July 31.
The reason for the remand was to allow the police to continue their further investigation into the case.
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