Rocklands residents are angry that a 12-year-old boy implicated in the rape of three girls, two of whom are in the same class, at a Rocklands primary school, has been allowed to return to school.
Three girls, aged 11 and 12, were raped vaginally and anally, allegedly by a tuckshop owner after the boy allegedly lured them to the shop.
The community gathered at the shop on Friday November 3, when the police were called to protect the tuckshop owner, who got away, and the boy. No arrests were made, but a family member confirmed that the boy had been mentioned in one of the girl’s statements.
By the time this edition went to print, the police had not yet replied to the Plainsman’s request for further information.
Yesterday, Tuesday November 14, the community protested at the school because the boy was attending class.
An aunt of one of the girls, whose name is being withheld so as not to reveal the girl’s identity, said: “We do not want him on the school premises.”
She said they were writing exams and the girls had to sit in the same class as the boy.
The aunt added that the girls were severely traumatised but had not received proper counselling. “We as the parents, I take her as my child because she grew up in front of me, do not know how to handle the situation. There is no support from anybody like a social worker or the government,” she said.
She said they have to drop the girls at 11.30am to write exams and then fetch them from the principal’s office at 1pm.
“But he roams freely,” she said.
