Akbar deeply saddened by the alleged rape case of a 16-year-old student at a remote maritime high school

The Minister for Education Rosy Akbar says they are aware and deeply saddened by the alleged rape case at a remote maritime high school.

It is alleged a 16-year-old student was gang-raped by four secondary school students.

Akbar says the alleged incident was reported to the school's Child Protection Officer who then addressed the matter to the school administration for further investigations.

She says they had compiled reports by the school administration concerning the alleged incident which were handed over to Police for further investigations.

Akbar says they acted in accordance to the Child Protection Policy which states that all suspicions and allegations of Child abuse, child labour, trafficking, neglect, and exploitation must be reported promptly to the Child Protection Officers who shall investigate and direct all the findings to the school head who then shall inform the School Management and the Child Protection Officers in the Education Offices within two to three days of the incident.

Akbar further says they are waiting for the Police Department to carry out their investigations and the case is now with the police.

The Ministry is urging all Heads of Schools and Child Protection Officers to ensure that the policy is upheld at all times for the safety and welfare of all our children in our schools.