‘They told me I’m not a boy but their wife’
Gang of teenage ‘rapists’ assault boy and terrorise teachers at primary school
He tells me: ‘Mommy, I’m sorry that I let them do that to me. I know your heart is sore’
The mother of the teenager who was raped
After the gang rape of a teenager, allegedly by five of his classmates, in a school toilet last week, even more shocking allegations have come to light. Four pupils from the same group raped him in September, the 14year-old from the Free State has told police.
Even teachers at the school are terrified, claiming they, too, are being bullied by the group.
The Grade 7 pupil was raped on Tuesday during school and again on Wednesday during school hours.
Several teachers at the boy’s primary school in Selosesha in Thaba Nchu this week admitted that the five suspects had made their lives hell.
“If they insist on coming back, there won’t be teaching,” a teacher said.
Four of the teens are being detained in a juvenile centre and the fifth is in place of safety.
A school dossier of incidents of bullying committed by the five — four 14-year-olds and one 13-year-old — revealed that one of them allegedly touched a girl’s private parts, and another was found surfing porn on the internet “instead of accessing curriculumrelated matter”.
Wanted to be a thug
The dossier, seen by the Sunday Times, contained details of one of the boys allegedly stabbing a pupil with a pair of scissors and attempting to strangle another.
According to one of the entries in the school’s safety file, one of the boys said he wanted to be a thug.
On May 23 the rape victim’s mother — at this stage unaware of last year’s rape — lodged a complaint with the school against one of the five boys for bullying her son and “taking his money and lunchbox”.
The report said: “He was ordered to bring money for them and if he doesn’t do so they are going to deal with him. This leads to him stealing from his parents.”
One of the reports said the boy had been bullied from the time he was in Grade 4.
He shared a desk with one of the suspects, but was later moved.
Battling to control her emotions, his single, unemployed mother said: “My heart is broken. I can’t cry in front of him. I just cry at night when I am alone.”
The 39-year-old woman and her son live in a five-roomed house with the boy’s 73year-old maternal grandmother.
The floors of the house have gaping holes.
Seated next to her, the boy constantly wrung his hands and stared at the floor. He was wearing a black hoodie and black trousers. He is shy and reserved, says his mother.
Last Tuesday the mother and grandmother noticed he was walking oddly, but he said it was because he had bumped into a chair.
But on Wednesday, seeing that he was in pain, his mother confronted him and he told her what had happened.
He was on his way home when two of the boys called him to say the “boss” wanted him in the toilet. Starting from the tallest to the smallest, they then raped him, he told his mother.
“I was crying softly because I was ordered not to cry loudly. The ‘boss’ had a small knife. I was told from now on I must not look at myself as a boy but as their wife,” the boy told his mother.
According to his statement to police, four of the boys raped him in September.
“I was afraid to tell anyone because they threatened to kill me.”
He said that after the rape in September he stole money from his mother and gave it to the boys.
Last Wednesday she heard for the first time the extent of her son’s ordeal.
“I couldn’t hold my tears. I just sat staring at him. I didn’t even have words to ask. He tells me: ‘Mommy, I’m sorry that I let them do that to me. I know your heart is sore.’ ”
Her son suddenly stopped taking part in church activities.
He was tested for HIV/Aids last Friday at a local hospital, where he is being counselled.
Reign of terror
Howard Ndaba, spokesman for the Free State education department, said the department would investigate whether other pupils at the school could have been raped.
Ndaba said the school management was aware of the boys’ reign of terror, and the school had put interventions in place to help the boys, such as counselling. The boys had been warned about the dangers of bullying.
Free State MEC for education Tate Makgoe met with parents on Friday, when it was resolved teachers should visit the pupils’ toilets to check for misdemeanours.
Pupils will receive counselling tomorrow. A police spokesman for Thaba Nchu, Sergeant Martin Xuma, said two incidents of rape, last Tuesday and Wednesday, were being investigated.
The teens will appear in the ThabaNchu Magistrate’s Court on June 25 for a formal bail hearing. Police confirmed they will each face three counts of rape — for the incident in September and the two incidents this month. The four 14-years-olds are being detained at the Kroonstad Correctional Juvenile Centre, and the 13-year-old at a place of safety.