A 15-YEAR-OLD student at Ekuphumuleni Secondary School in Lupane, who was allegedly sexually abused by a teacher and hs testified to the same, has changed her statements, exonerating the educator, as she told the court that she was forced to make the claims by police officers who allegedly harassed and beat her up.
The teacher, Charles Muchavaka (35), got into trouble after he allegedly proposed love to the 15-year-old female learner, who accepted and the two allegedly had sexual intercourse while at the teacher’s cottage.
Muchavaka pleaded not guilty to a charge of having sexual intercourse with a young person when he appeared before Lupane resident magistrate Aelene Munamati. The state, represented by Sanders Sibanda, called the pupil to testify on Wednesday and she suddenly changed her statement, claiming the teacher never slept with her.
She said police officers investigating the case assaulted her to induce confession that the teacher had slept with her. “He never slept with me. I was forced by the police to say that he slept with me,” she said.
The magistrate remanded the case to March 16 for continuation and the State has lined up her mother to testify in the case on the day.Sibanda told the court that the student lives at Jotsholo in Lupane and attends the same school where Muchavaka teaches.
It is alleged that the matter stemmed from the fact that the head at the school and other teachers suspected that some male teachers were sexually abusing students.
That is when it was discovered that the learner was not at school, although she had been seen earlier. The head ordered that all teachers’ rooms be searched and Muchavaka refused to have his searched.
It is the State’s case that on February 2 this year Muchavaka proposed love to the student and she accepted.
On February 5 he called her to his room, where he asked to have sexual intercourse with her and she agreed. The love affair was reportedly discovered when the head found out the girl was not at school during a roll call.
Efforts to locate her on the day failed, only for her to resurface the following day. The head then took her to the police where she was questioned and revealed that she had been in the teacher’s room at the school.
It is alleged that the girl told the police that she slept with the teacher and enjoyed the encounter. The girl was taken to hospital for testing where a medical examination confirmed she had sexual intercourse.
A medical report was compiled and a report was made to the police, leading to Muchavaka’s arrest. southern eye