Creché head orders the kids to hurt themselves

A SESHEGO father says he is deeply disappointed by the principal of the créche that his four-year-old son attends, after the principal allegedly forced the children to injure each other recently.

Samuel Moloko Mpati said when he recently went to collect his son from Thariyasechaba community créche, he found that his son had scratches on his face. He said when he asked his son how he got these scratches, his son replied that the principal, Maphefo Rapudi had instructed him and some other children to scratch themselves.

“My son told me that the principal told him and some other children to scratch themselves, and if they didn’t, he would beat them hard. I saw two other children with scratches on their cheeks, and when I asked them what happened, the children told me the principal had told them to scratch themselves as punishment for scratching another child,” Mpati told Express. “I am disappointed by the principal’s action. I sent my son to the créche to learn, not to be abused.

“I have since removed my son from the crèche,” he said.

Rapudi said the problem started when Mpati’s son and another boy allegedly scratched a girl on her forehead. “So I ordered the two boys to scratch themselves,” she said, adding that she wondered why the parent had gone to the media and not come to her to resolve the matter.

She further told Express that it had not been her intention to cause any harm. “What I was doing was to calm the situation down. I just wanted the boys to experience the pain they had caused the girl,” she said.

Seshego police spokesperson WO Mothemane Malefo said a case had been opened with the police. “The investigation has reached a sensitive stage. We are the custodian of children’s rights, and we will therefore spare no effort in getting to the bottom of the matter,” Malefo said.

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