WHERE IS JUSTICE?

THE police and school administration must be tak en to task for their failure to protect a rape victim even when the alleged offender is known.

It has come as a shock that the police in Chipata are ready to accept an out of court settlement for the alleged rapist because the victim’s family want compensation.

What is more worrying is that the rape victim is a 26-year-old deaf mute who is a pupil at one of the schools in Chipata enrolled in the special unit. The man is employed as a guard at the school.

The victim is against the alleged offender paying her family compensation and would rather have him prosecuted so that he could pay for his crime.

She is demanding for justice while her family asked for compensation. The police for their part referred the case to the Gender-Based Violence unit.

Surely, is this not a criminal offence that the po lice officers should not even hesitate to arrest the suspect?

The whole case would have gone unnoticed but for the brave act of one of the teachers at the school who has exposed the scam.

The devastated victim has asked her teachers to help her get justice by exposing the ordeal and plot to hash the matter.

The teacher is right to call on the government to intervene and ensure she gets justice instead of the matter being hashed up and swept under the carpet.

According to a teacher, the 26-year-old special unit pupil, was raped by a guard at the school, but the police hashed the matter after the family asked for compensation from the offender.

According to the source, the guard has since paid K5, 000 to the family as compensation.

Although the matter was reported to the school administration and police, nothing else has been done, forcing the whistleblower to take matters in her own hands.

She said the rape victim was tramautised and still in disbelief and scared.

“We are dealing with a victim who cannot talk or hear but is able to express herself using sign lan guage,” the teacher said.

According to the teacher, the man offered the vic tim a ride on his bicycle as she was a day scholar.

When he reached some unfinished buildings, he pulled her hair and dragged the victim in one of the buildings where he raped her.

It is a shame that even the school administration has decided to wash their hands over the unfortu nate incident when their primary role should be to protect the most vulnerable at the school, especial ly those in the special unit.

It is even mind boggling that the perpetrator has continued working much to the disbelief of the vic tim and other female pupils.

We do not believe that the school administra tion, let alone the police should allow this self-con fessed offender to be roaming the school premises or indeed the community when he should be be hind bars.

The teacher who is trying to get justice for the rape victim should be commended for showing re sponsibility and standing up for not only her pupils but for all vulnerable victims.

We demand justice.

PURSUING JUSTICE AND EQUITY WITH INTERGRITY