A child's fate or good name?

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

How many more children will be victims before education authorities take action to stop sexual harassment and attempted rape in schools? When will school authorities place the safety of their young charges before everything else, even the good name of their institution?

In August last year, The Sunday Times reported the case of a little girl who was allegedly raped within the school premises by an older student. Today, less than six months later, another innocent child has fallen prey to a teenager with criminal intentions.

In this instance, the victim was a six- year- old girl. The suspect is an older boy of the same school, aged between 16 and 18. But school officials show little or no interest in seeing justice done. Still worse they remain silent.

But the little girl will have to live with the psychological trauma all her life.

Nilmini (not her real name) arrived in school with her friends as usual on the sunny Monday morning of January 18. Everything had been fine according to her cousin sister, Samanthi (not her real name), the only family member with whom Nilmini speaks freely. That was until lunchtime.

"She told me she was playing in school during the interval when a senior student of 18 called her aside. Then he had taken her into the well- hidden lavatory of the school and raped her," the cousin said. According to a tape, her relatives had secretly recorded while she was relating the incident, Nilmini had told her class teacher what had happened.

The teacher who noticed blood on her dress had asked Nilmini to wash it and told her she would file a complaint with the police but had failed to do so. According to police reports, the teacher had left the school on short leave and knew nothing of the incident. The principal too had been on leave that day.

The medical report submitted to the police by the Kegalle district hospital confirms that Nilmini had been raped. In the report, DMO Dr. Palitha D.Yapa says, "There is sufficient evidence to believe that the child has been subjected to sexual abuse or rape." The child refuses to speak to the police on the matter. OIC Dharmadasa Jayakody of the Bulathkohupitiya police who is investigating the incident said the child has not given a proper statement to the police yet.

"We examined all reports on the incident, but until the child says something to the police it is almost impossible to proceed with the case," OIC Jayakody said. An 18-year-old suspect from the same school had been brought in for questioning but has been released on insufficient evidence.

But the school Principal and teachers alike wish to let bygones be bygones and continue with their work. "I questioned everyone concerned in school and we have sufficient proof to believe that no such incident took place inside the school. Besides, we don't wish the school to be dragged into this and have its name tarnished.

"This is the first time that such an incident has been reported here. We want to leave it aside and continue with the school work," the Principal said.

The police, however, believe there is every possibility that the incident had taken place in the school premises. "The child had gone home with other children. The only instance when Nilmini had been separated from others was in schoolor during the final stretch home where she was met by her mother," the OIC said.

The six-year-old had got late to return home from school that day. The worried mother had walked towards the road and met Nilmini on the way.

"I asked her why she was late and she said the teacher had kept her back to sweep the classroom. Later, I noticed a blood clot on her uniform. When asked about it she said she had fallen, then she said a leech had bitten her, and later she said that a schoolboy raped her inside the school toilets," the mother said.

Nilmini from Welthuduwa in Bulathkohupitiya, about 10 miles off Kegalle town, is still suffering from shock. She won't allow anyone, not even her mother to touch her. She won't talk to anyone, and at any mention of the incident, she becomes sad, confused. She is no longer the friendly, playful little girl that she was.

"Since the incident she cries every night. She relives the incident in her sleep," her mother said.

Too scared to go to school, and harassed by teachers and students, little Nilmini's life has become a nightmare. Even her cousin has been warned and threatened by some senior students for helping Nilmini speak to officials.

The attitude of the school authorities was not different when six-year-old Fathima (not her real name) was sexually abused by a 16-year-old schoolboy. This incident took place in a popular Muslim school in Gampola where Fathima was tricked into following a school boy, who tempted her with a sweet wrapper, into the toilet. The outcome- she was found crying in the lavatory. The child' s vagina and thighs were swollen and she had to be hospitalised for several days.

Zonal or provincial education officers whose task it is to investigate such incidents have been sent back by principals who are determined not to let any whiff of scandal touch their schools. It is learnt that investigators and district education officials in this instance had been told that the incident did not involve the school. Why do schools take such an indifferent attitude towards serious issues such as sexual harassment and rape of minors by minors? Doesn't the responsibility of a child's safety from the moment she/he enters the premises till she/he returns home rest with school authorities? If this is the attitude of responsible government officers to whom the safety and well being of students have been entrusted, how much faith can parents have in education administrators and in schools in general? These are hard questions that parents would be compelled to face before sending their children to school.

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