Alex Matlala

Alex Matlala

The mother of a student who had claimed that three teachers had assaulted and kicked her private parts until she bled has removed her child from the school and gone into hiding.

The Bolobedu magistrate's court on Monday found the Kgapane High School teachers, Mohale Mopai, 53, Kingscorn Maepa, 28, and Josies Lediga, 40, not guilty of assaulting the 15-year-old student.

Nora Ngobeni has subsequntly removed her daughter from the school, only days before the start of the final-year exams.

Neighbours in the village said they last saw Ngobeni and her daughter at court during the case.

Yesterday Ngobeni told this reporter in a telephonic interview that she was humiliated outside court after the verdict and and that her neighbours had turned against her.

"I could no longer live in my house because I am not safe," she said.

"All my neighbours and friends have turned against me, thinking that I plotted the teachers' downfall. I need police protection."

Ngobeni said she removed her daughter from the school because her classmates had also turned against her daughter.

Police spokesman Freddy Maenetja said anyone who intimidated the mother or daughter would be arrested.

The Grade 9 student had told the court that the teachers had assaulted her in the staff room.

She said they had pressed her against a wall for 30 minutes and kicked her between the thighs until she bled. The teachers only let her go when they saw she was bleeding.

She said she was punished for failing to read in class on September 8.

The girl told the police that she went to a doctor in her torn clothes after the incident.

But the doctor's report indicated that bruises on her private parts was due to blood trauma, and no other injuries or fractured bones were discovered.

The court said the girl's contradictory statements lacked substance and found the teachers not guilty.