Seven-year-old molests classmate

TEACHERS at a Gauteng primary school got the shock of their lives when a seven-year-old boy allegedly sexually attacked a fellow pupil of the same age this week.

The incident allegedly took place in the toilets during school hours.

The Gauteng Department of Education has launched an investigation into the matter.

Department spokesperson Charles Phahlane confirms that authorities also dispatched counsellors to the school.

“We are investigating a case of sexual misconduct at the school. The department views all instances of sexual misconduct in a serious light.

“An independent investigation will also be conducted to determine whether the school dealt with the incident in the correct manner,” says Phahlane.

Parents of the little girl did not want to discuss the matter and efforts to contact the boy’s parents were fruitless.

Education psychologist Lara Ragpot says there are many reasons why the boy could have acted in the manner in which he did.

Ragpot says: “The only way a child that young can have any sexual reference is if he saw something or something happened to him.

“It is not developmentally appropriate. He does not understand that what he saw or what happened to him is not right.

“Who is the victim in this case? Though the boy is seen as a perpetrator, he is also a victim. The girl has also been scarred at such a young age.”

She says it is also important for parents to discuss abuse with their children.

“The best way to talk to a child is to tell them that no one is allowed to touch their bodies. It does not have to be talk about genitals but that no one is allowed to touch their bodies without permission.

“As a result of the society we live in, we have to have sex talk with our children at an early age.

“When we want to have sex education talks in schools, we need to get permission from parents.

“Some parents are against children being told about sex because they see it as their responsibility or that the kids are too young.” A DEPRESSED prisoner has resorted to a hunger strike to demonstrate his unhappiness with the Department of Correctional Services.

This after convicted murderer Essop Khan s freedom was

’ curtailed on the day he was to walk home on parole in February this year. Khan, who stopped eating on Wednesday, says his march to the outside world was suddenly halted on February 29.

It was the worst experience of “my life,” says Khan from Leeuwkop Prison in Johannesburg.

I had already changed into my “civilian clothes and said my goodbyes to the inmates and wardens I have been with for the past years.

Then I was told I can t go “’ because if I am set free the department will face a problem with bad publicity.

I was given this date of “release by the Parole Board in July last year. Why was I not informed earlier that there was a change of that decision?”

Documents seen by Sunday World confirm that Khan was supposed to start serving his parole from February after having met all the requirements.

But instead of letting him go, the warders brought a directive from Gauteng regional headquarters stating that Khan will have to remain draped in the orange prison garb for another six months while the Parole Review Board considers the matter again. The faxed instruction read: The

“ family of the victim, who were present during the parole hearing, were not happy with the decision.

On 09 December 2011 the “family of the victim faxed a signed petition by the community of Chatsworth to oppose the release of the offender Essop Khan on parole to Leeuwkop management area.

Considering the sensitivity and “negative publicity the department may face in regard to this matter, we request the guidance of the CDC on a way forward.”

But Khan says this does not hold water as he was not going to return to his native home town upon his release.

I have an address in Johan“nesburg and the parole board were happy with that. Also, who are those community members who signed the petition?

Many people don t know me “’ in Chatsworth because I have been away since 1997,” he says.

Correctional Services spokesperson Phumlani Ximiya confirms that Khan s release was halted at

’ the 11th hour because the com

“munity of Chatsworth submitted a petition to the department on December 9 2011 in protest and

… this forced the department to refer the case to the Parole Review Board ”. He says the petition contained more than 4 000 signatures. Khan s sister, Soraya, says: I

’ “don t understand why they are

’ doing this to him. He made a mistake and was punished for that by law.”