Dear Editor,
A month ago a village elder from the Deep South Rupununi, sent me a video to post on the social media. In this video two young Amerindian female students, aged 13 and 15 from Awarewanau Primary school were brutally flogged with a long cowskin whip on their buttocks, with only their under wear on. The people who saw this most cruel beating on facebook, asked me to take it off, since they felt it would cause more trauma and embarrassment for these students. The elder and villagers wanted the world to see what is taking place in their school in the name of corporal punishment in this modern age.
I later decided to send this video to the senior Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence and Minister of National Security Khemraj Ramjattan. I was assured that this matter is under investigation by the senior Minister of Education and justice will be served when the investigation is completed. It’s been one month since the video was emailed to the relevant ministers and nothing seems to be happening in the investigation as was promised. The elder and villagers of Deep South Rupununi,are upset and keep asking me about the matter. The brutal beating of these two students took place in February, 2015 and the matter was being investigated by two school welfare officers and a policeman from Lethem.
The two teachers involved in the beating were arrested and charged with causing actual bodily harm, and they appeared before a magistrate in Lethem court, where the case was dismissed, although there was evidence and visible marks of violence on these girls. A medical certificate was also presented in court by the policeman who conducted the investigation and met with the students in their homes.
The village elder who videoed the beating and the villagers said that they were promised protection by the President on his campaign trail, and they feel that students will continue to face tremendous challenge in their school at Awarewanau because of the two teachers if they remain on the job there .They are now calling on the new coalition government to expedite this matter urgently since this cruel beating took place 5 months ago and they need justice.
The two school welfare officers made recommendations that the two teachers to be dismissed or transferred, only to discover that the Education Department at Lethem has sent them back into the school system.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
