adminThe deputy headmaster and the teacher at Kwalu Secondary School are now facing charges of raping and sexually abusing two school girls aged 14 and 15.
The two men allegedly proposed love to the two Form Two pupils at the school before later coercing the girls into having sex with them on separate occasions.
The incident follows a similar case involving a 37-year-old teacher at Toporo Primary School in the district who fled after allegedly sexually abusing his 13-year-old pupil on three occasions.
The officer commanding police in Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo, confirmed the arrests of the two men.
He said they have intensified investigations as more teachers were likely to be netted in the rampant child sex scandals occurring at the school, situated about 100 km west of the border town.
“We have arrested a 37-year-old deputy headmaster and his subordinate, who is a teacher at Kwalu Secondary School in Beitbridge District on charges of raping and sexually abusing two pupils, aged 14 and 15.
“Our preliminary investigations indicate that sometime in June, the two suspects proposed love to the girls and they accepted.
“On 8 June during the evening, Lifatsi Mbedzi, who is the deputy headmaster, visited the 15-year-old girl’s home at neighbouring Malusungane Village.
“He later asked the girl to accompany him back to his home and along the way, Mbedzi asked her to be intimate with him, but she refused,” said Chief Supt Chinhengo.
He said Mbedzi grabbed the complainant and dragged the girl to a nearby bush where he allegedly raped her. Mbedzi threatened the girl with death if she reported the matter to anyone.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said the matter only came to light on Wednesday when police received a tip off.
“We got a tip-off from community members that Forget Mbedzi, who is a teacher at Kwalu, was sexually abusing his 14-year-old pupil.
“Our officers then teamed up with officials from the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and Save the Children-UK and visited the school,” he said.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said on arresting Forget Mbedzi further investigations led to the arrest of his superior on similar charges.
“While in the process of conducting our investigations, we also discovered that several pupils had since dropped out of school due to rampant sexual abuses.
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“As police we suspect that more teachers could be involved in perpetrating offences of this nature and we have since intensified our investigations and we hope the net will soon close in on them,” said Chief
Supt Chinhengo said, adding that the two would appear in court soon.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said they had since partnered with other key stakeholders in conducting anti-child abuse campaigns at schools in the rural communities in the district.
The campaigns are meant to conscientise
pupils and the communities as cases of sexual abuse involving minors continue to rise in the district.
He also said they had since intensified the hunt for the Toporo teacher who last week fled after allegedly sexually abusing his 13-year-old pupil on three different occasions.
The suspect committed the offence between August and October.
According to police, the teacher would between 15 August and 22 October, summon the girl to his office during which he would force her into having sex with him before giving her between R5 and R10 to silence her.
The teacher would also invite the girl to his house on the pretext that he wanted her to do household chores before persuading her into having sex with him.
The matter came to light on 22 October soon after the teacher had sex with the girl at his house.
The girl was spotted by her classmates coming from the teacher’s house and they noticed that she behaved in an unusual manner prompting them to quiz her.
She revealed everything to her friends who in turn alerted the girl’s mother and a report was made to the police.
The teacher then got wind that police were looking for him and he fled from the school.
“As police we suspect that more teachers could be involved in perpetrating offences of this nature and we have since intensified our investigations and we hope the net will soon close in on them,” said Chief Supt Chinhengo, adding that the two would appear in court soon.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said they had since partnered other key stakeholders in conducting anti-child abuse campaigns at schools, mostly those in the rural communities in the district to conscientise pupils and the communities as cases of sexual abuse involving minors continue to take toll in the district.
He also said they had since intensified the hunt for the Toporo teacher who last week fled after allegedly sexually abusing his 13-year-old pupil on three different occasions.
The suspect is on the run after committing the offence between August and October.
According to police, the teacher would between 15 August and 22 October, summon the girl to his office during which he would force her into having sex with him before giving her between R5 and R10 to silence her.
The teacher would also invite the girl to his house on the pretext that he wanted her to do household chores before persuading her into having sex with him.
The matter came to light on 22 October soon after the teacher had sex with the girl at his house.
The girl was spotted by her classmates coming from the teacher’s house and they noticed that she behaved in an unusual manner prompting them to quiz her.
She then revealed everything to her friends who in turn alerted the girl’s mother and a report was made to the police. The teacher then got wind that police were looking for him and he fled and disappeared from the school.
Online Reporter