Pupil falsely accused of stealing cash kills herself

A GRADE 10 pupil from iphembisizwe High School in Ntuzuma killed herself after her teacher accused her of stealing R200 last Tuesday.

Asande Tembe, 20, was found dead on Tuesday afternoon after she hanged herself with a rope on a tree under a pedestrian bridge in Ntuzuma.

This was allegedly after Asande had confronted her teacher, telling her she had not stolen the money.

A source, who refused to be named, said Asande also told the teacher she was going to kill herself if she did not apologise for falsely accusing her.

“Asande was very upset that her teacher accused her of stealing money, so she went to her teacher and told her that she did not do it.

“The teacher told Asande to her face that she was certain that she was the one who stole her money and she was not going to apologise,” said the source.

The source said when Asande told the teacher that she was going to take her own life, she just laughed at her.

“The teacher told Asande to go ahead and kill herself because she made no difference to the school and she was a disobedient pupil.

“It turned out that Asande had not stolen the money because it was discovered that the teacher had misplaced it,” said the source.

The source said there had been allegations that Asande was treated differently because she was a homosexual. “Asande was not afraid of showing off her lifestyle and some teachers did not take that well, as a result she was always ill-treated,” said the source.

Asande’s aunt, Ntuthuko Tembe, said the family was sad over Asande’s suicide. She said after Asande died the family went to have a conversation with her teacher, but she did not show any signs of remorse. “All the teachers just criticised us and said Asande was the one at fault,” said Tembe.

Kwazulu-natal Department of Education spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said the department was not aware of the matter but would forward it to the district director to gather a full report.

KZN SAPS spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Ntuzuma police were investigating. Whatsapp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.