For the second consecutive day, protests were held in the Olarte neighborhood, in the town of Bosa, by parents of families and neighbors in the sector over an alleged case of sexual abuse of a minor as young as five years old. Wednesday's demonstration was highlighted by an angry mob that set fire in several places of the Nuevo Chile school.
According to the residents' accounts, the protest began on March 22 after hearing the story of the mother of the affected minor, who assured that the directors of the institution had been negligent towards them without answering them. At today's demonstration, parents spoke to CityTV's microphones stating that they had reported irregular behavior by teachers towards other students.
The Government Secretariat told the newspaper El Tiempo that, due to the situation, they sent “dialogue managers trying to mediate peacefully”. The presence of the Bosa Mayor's Office, the Secretariat of Security, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), the Personería, the school's rectory and the Ministry of Education were also highlighted. “Esmad is three kilometers away as an available force, but they have no order to intervene,” the entity added in the afternoon.
Before the same media outlet, Germán Murillo, civic leader of the public security oversight, denounced that minors were using bladed weapons during the demonstration: “they are persecuting members of the community who do not want to let them do any kind of damage to the school.”
This is one of the videos showing how they set fire to the real estate and graffiti on the walls of the institution. It also shows the arrival of the Bogotá Fire Department to extinguish the flames.
The Ministry of Education issued a press release rejecting “any act of violence against institutions and their educational communities.” At the same time, he invited citizens to surround schools “as sacred spaces for the protection and training of children in the capital.”
For this reason, the Secretary of Education, Edna Bonilla, will lead a symbolic event to surround the educational community and promote reconciliation on March 24, at 7:00 in the morning in front of the school premises. From this time onwards, there will be a day of cleaning and recovery of the institution's infrastructure.
Prosecutor's Office will investigate 163 cases of sexual abuse in schools in Bogotá
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education provided the Attorney General's Office with information on 163 cases of sexual violence registered in district educational institutions, allegedly committed by teachers attached to the entity.
The entity clarified in a press release that there are 154 active disciplinary proceedings with a cut-off as of March 1; however, the base submitted to the Prosecutor's Office was updated on March 18, which includes complaints received in the third month of the year, thus involving a total of 163 cases.
The judicial body, for its part, will deliver the first results of the investigation within a period of 30 days. Added to this is the appointment of six new prosecutors and the same number of investigators who will be available in the District's courthouses, located in: Ciudad Bolivar, Suba and Barrios Unidos.
This initiative was announced on March 19 by Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, after meeting with Mayor Claudia López. According to the official, the new investigators and prosecutors will give greater attention to this type of inquiry regardless of the locality in which it originates.
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