Parents lose ‘half-naked’ photos case

The parents of an 11-year-old girl have lost their bid for an urgent interdict to force their child’s school to delete “half-naked” pictures that school staff allegedly took of the child.

The parents took the school to court after an incident in May after their daughter was called to the office of the vice-principal, where they claimed “half-naked” photographs were allegedly taken of her without permission.

The couple wanted the High Court in Pretoria to order the school to hand over and delete all pictures that were taken of their daughter and hand over a statement the child was allegedly made to write. The school opposed the application, saying they had photos of marks on the child’s thigh and knee and not “half-naked” pictures.

The school principal said in an affidavit the photos were taken after one of the girl’s teachers saw that she was in tears and could not sit properly.

The child allegedly reported that her father had assaulted her with a belt. She said the matter had already been reported to child welfare and the police and it was up to the police to decide what to do with the photographic evidence.

The principal referred to an incident in 2014, when the girl allegedly arrived at school with a “blue eye” and said it was not the first time they had to take photos and report the girl’s father to the police about allegations of assault.

The principal denied that the application was urgent, as the parents had been aware of the photos since May.

Judge Neil Tuchten dismissed the application and ordered the child’s father to pay the costs. The father vehemently denied ever assaulting his daughter.

He said the reported “blue eye” was due to a grass allergy, the mark on her knee was caused by a medical condition and she had made the mark on her thigh herself when she was drawing a “tattoo”.