Wed, 25 Jan 2017 11:57:43 +0000
By NATION REPORTER
INVESTIGATIONS into the anonymous letter by some Kasama Secondary School girls claiming sex-ual abuse by teachers and watchmen have been concluded and it has been proved that the allegations are totally untrue and unfounded, Northern Province Provincial Education Officer Jobbicks Kalumba has announced.
Dr Kalumba said investigations established that the allegations of sexual abuse made in the anony-mous letter were untrue and stood dismissed.
Dr Kalumba said the anonymous letter was a fabrication and malicious meant to scandalize teachers at Kasama Girls Secondary School.
He said that investigations have revealed that no teacher or support staff was involved in any alleged sexual offences or was found to have impregnated or was involved in sexual abuse of pupils at Kasa-ma Girls Secondary School.
Over the weekend, authorities conducted intensive investigations and gave discreet questionnaires to the girls at the school.
Dr Kalumba said the contents of the anonymous letter were a fabrication and acts of malice by un-known people as they were established not to be true.
And Dr. Kalumba disclosed that authorities conduct pregnancy tests at the beginning of every term and 8 girls were found to be pregnant in January 2017.
He said the tests conducted by Kasama General Hospital established that eight (8) pupils were found pregnant.
The girls pointed out at suspected culprits who impregnated were not members of staff or Kasama Girls support staff (cleaners, guards or watchmen).
Dr Kalumba further stated that Kasama Girls Secondary School had not recorded any death at the school premises since 2008.
An anonymous letter allegedly written by a Kasama Secondary School girl emerged, making sensa-tionally scandalous claims that pupils were sexually abused or raped by watchmen and teachers in or-der to escape boundary and time restrictions and consequent punishment.
The letter also claimed that 22 girls were pregnant in January 2017 alone and several girls had died from unsafe abortions caused by sexual abuse at the school.
The letter sparked both outrage from women rights organisations and authorities but also deep skepti-cism of the authenticity of the letter and its claims.
The Human Rights Commission this week joined the Ministry of General Education in investigating reported cases of sexual abuse of pupils at Kasama Girls Secondary School in Northern Province as claimed by a viral social media anonymous letter.
