Cop in custody for ‘rape’ of pupils
Mom sceptical of justice system
The parent of a Soweto pupil who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a police officer on the school premises says she now finds it hard to trust the justice system.
The officer, who is attached to the police’s forensic social workers unit, is expected to make a formal bail application on Tuesday in the Protea magistrate’s court after he was arrested on Thursday.
He was charged with sexual assault and rape of two children aged seven and eight.
“If we cannot trust the police, who can we trust? My daughter has been subjected to sexual assault twice in a space of six months by people who were meant to have protected her,” said the mother of one of the AB Xuma Primary School pupils.
She said though her daughter has been receiving counselling, the trauma she has endured was bound to affect her for the rest of her life.
The officer allegedly sexually assaulted and raped the pupils after he was deployed to the school in March to prepare a group of 87 pupils for a court case in which they were alleged to have suffered the same fate at the hands of a security guard at the Orlando school in October.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Moses Dlamini confirmed the arrest, adding that the officer was remanded on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the trial of the former security guard at the school, who allegedly molested 11 pupils at the school, is set to commence on November 12.
The 57-year-old suspect was charged with three counts of rape and 11 of sexual assault. He has been in custody since October.
Gauteng department of education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the principal and the entire senior management of the primary school have been removed following the sexual assault allegations against the security guard.