A school headmaster in Makoni District is walking scot-free after allegedly raping a Grade Seven learner at his school on two separate occasions last year.
The student, who cannot be named to protect her identity, lives with her widowed mother in Matedza Village, Makoni.
The issue is a public secret in the area and most villagers are aware of the case, although a police report is yet to be made several months after the incidents.
According to the student, the first rape incident occurred in September, almost two months after she had turned 16.
“It first happened in September when l was in Grade Seven. We had been asked to remain behind for revision work before our final exams.
“On the fateful day, I was the last one to leave after my peers from our area had gone home. As I was walking along the road, I unexpectedly saw the headmaster right in front of me. He was smiling.
“He instructed me to stop and started dragging me to the bush. He covered my mouth with his hand when I tried to call out for help. He did that while removing my clothes.
“The headmaster forcibly had sexual intercourse with me on that occasion. After that, he promised to give me a dollar so that I would not tell anyone about the incident,” she said.
The minor, who completed her Grade Seven studies at the end of last year, said she did not divulge the matter to her mother as she wasn’t sure how she would react.
She said she was sexually abused again when she went to collect her Grade Seven results at the school two months ago.
Unfortunately, she could not collect her results slip as she has school fees arrears. Due to that, she is not yet attending secondary school.
Her mother said: “I only discovered this issue when I suspected that my child was having pregnancy symptoms. I took her to the local Village Health Worker. She advised me to take her to the clinic but at the clinic they said she is not pregnant.
“I did not report this matter to the police because I told her uncles and I did not want to go ahead of them,” said the distraught woman.
When The Manica Post visited the school recently, the institution was deserted and the headmaster was said to have gone home for the holidays.
His mobile phone was unreachable.
However, from interactions with the community and teachers, it seems like the girl’s issue might be the tip of an iceberg as it was revealed that on different occasions, three parents tried to surrender their daughters to the headmaster after he had sexually abused them.
Said a teacher who refused to be named citing protocol: “We believe that this man has juju. He has abused a number of girls and the issues are only topical in the community for a few weeks before dying down.
“I actually witnessed, on three separate occasions, as parents came to the school intending to surrender their sexually abused children to the headmaster but somehow he always gets off the hook,” said the teacher.
When contacted for comment, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s Manicaland Provincial Education Director, Mr Edward Shumba said the issue was yet to reach his office.
“Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I have not heard any report relating to that and we will certainly make our own investigations,” he said. – Manica Post
