A nine-year-old boy is afraid to go to school after he was choked, his head shaved and his eyebrows removed with a disposable razor in the school’s toilet.
The Montrose Park boy told his parents he was attacked by an eight-year-old Grade 1 pupil, who also ripped his shirt and wrote the number 28 on it as he choked him.
The incident happened at Alpine Primary School in Beacon Valley after school was dismissed at 1pm on Monday.
The boy’s upset mother says she could not believe it when her child came home with holes in his hair and his eyebrows shorn off.
She went to the school the next day and the alleged bully was suspended.
TERRIFIED: Laaitie’s hair shaved off at Beacon Valley school. Picture: Jack Lestrade
“My child is terrified and I am very upset about this incident,” the mother says.
“My boy said he wanted to go to the toilet when the bell rang at the end of the day.
“He walked into the bathroom when this other boy, known for being very difficult at school, grabbed him and pushed him into the wall.
“He grabbed him and tore his shirt.
“He threatened to hurt my son if he struggled and started shaving his head with the razor.
“My child says he simply froze as he was being choked.
“Then the boy shaved off his eyebrows and wrote the number 28 on his school shirt.
“When I got home from work, he was in a state.”
TORN: 28 written on shirt
The mother says after speaking to the school principal, the alleged bully was called in and immediately suspended.
She says despite what the young boy had done to her son, she feels sorry for him.
“My son needs counselling and I think the attacker does too. He is young and has so much hatred already.”
The Western Cape Education Department confirmed the eight-year-old boy has been suspended, pending a disciplinary hearing.
Spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says: “The WCED can confirm that an eight-year-old Grade 1 learner did shave the head and eyebrows of another learner.
CONFIRM: Hammond
“The learner denies the allegations. There were no witnesses so we cannot confirm the allegations of choking. An intervention strategy is currently being developed.
“The school has spoken to the parents of the victim and the police.
“They have requested assistance from the Department in terms of counselling and social support.”