A 14-year-old female Junior High School (JHS) pupil attempted to take her life after what has been described as ‘constant bullying’ by a teacher from her school.
The attempted suicide occurred Thursday, April 20, 2023, at Anweabeng, in the Abuakwa North Constituency in the Eastern Region.
The victim, a Form Two pupil of Anweabeng Municipal Assembly (M/A) JHS, who doubles as the Girl’s Prefect, survived the incident after a swift intervention by her aunt.
Angelonline.com.gh understands that the victim, [name withheld], tried to end her life during class hours after she could no longer bear the constant accusation and torment she had come under.
According to sources, the said teacher had been accusing the victim and three of her juniors at the primary level of spreading false rumours about her.
Accusation
The female teacher and two colleagues were said to have recently been on the neck of the pupils for supposedly making some unpleasant comments against them after last term’s Basic School Sports festival held at Samlesi Salvation Army school, a suburb of Yilo Krobo.
Back from the sports festival, the teachers [Class 1, 2, and 3] claimed the students had speculated in the Anweabeng community that they were ‘drunk and misbehaved’ while the games were ongoing.
However, the four accused students denied knowledge of the accusations against them.
Meanwhile, reports had it that the teachers repeatedly called out the four pupils during class hours, paraded them, and intimidated them to speak the ‘truth’.
Attempted Suicide
The Girls’ prefect was reportedly singled out by the class three teacher, identified as Madam Dodzie Abigail and was at the receiving end of her bullying.
The 14-year-old decided to end her life when things became too unbearable.
This was after she was allegedly pulled out of class – a regular feature by Madam Dodzie—just to punish the pupil.
Giving an account of what happened, an eyewitness said the pupil, after being sacked from class, ran to their residence – a teachers’ bungalow, which is just a stone-throw from the school.
She subsequently untied a rope on the neck of a goat belonging to her grandmother to hang herself on a nearby tree.
But Ms. Ruth, a food vendor at the school’s canteen, upon arriving at the scene, managed to rescue the girl.
“Immediately, we saw her [the victim] speeding up towards the direction of the house.
“So a teacher who was seated under one of the trees on the school campus called her grandmother and asked if she had sent the victim on errands, but she responded in the negative.”
It was at this juncture that Ms. Ruth started calling the victim’s name, but to no avail.
She said she suddenly heard the cry of her niece and rushed there, only to see her hanging on a loose rope on the tree.
The account added quickly: the pupil said “I want to kill myself for Madam Abigail so that she will get what she wants because I don’t know my offence to merit all that she’s making me go through,” the pupil said as narrated by the eyewitness.
The victim’s father subsequently withdrew his daughter from the school—a registered candidate for the 2023 BECE and drove off.
The Akim New Tafo Police Command is currently handling the case following a report filed by the victim’s father on Thursday, April 20.
Meanwhile, the police, in their quest to pick up the teacher at the center of the case for interrogation on Friday, April 21, yielded no results as the headmaster promised to hand her over on Tuesday, April 25.
However, at the time of filing this report, our checks indicated that there was no turnout at the police station on the said day.
Mr. Asamoah Isaac, the headmaster of both the Primary and JHS levels, declined to speak on the matter when contacted by our reporter, Opambour Jaman Dehyee.
He directed the journalist to channel his questions to the Abuakwa North Education Directorate since they are best positioned to comment further on the incident.
The Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Abuakwa North Education Directorate, Sampson Akoto Kwafo, said on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, that their office had been informed of the matter.
“We were informed yesterday about it; the headteacher and those involved were contacted. They came to the office, and we realized the issue had been reported.
“Father of the girl has reported the matter at the Tafo Police Station, so the matter is in the hands of Inspector Obeng currently,” Angelonline.com.gh reported.
The PRO added: “I can’t say on record that it is a true story, but if you want any better particulars or information, Inspector Obeng can be in the best position to do that.”