This year, Colombians have been outraged to learn, in a few months, different cases of sexual abuse of minors in educational institutions in the country. Cases in Medellin, Cali and Bogota have came to light and, recently, a woman reported that her five-year-old son was abused in the bathroom of the school she attends.
The alleged abuse took place in the educational institution Ciudadela de Occidente, at the headquarters of the Universal neighborhood, in Armenia, when the minor entered the bathroom and met a person, who would be a student of a higher degree, who carnally accessed it, according to the local newspaper La Chronicle del Quindio. They added that the five-year-old boy told his mother that the assailant touched his private parts, violated his mouth and threatened him not to tell anyone what happened.
Fortunately, when he saw his father, the boy told him what happened and the 28-year-old woman filed the respective complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents to clarify the incident and identify the aggressor student. The sexual abuse of which the minor was the victim was observed by the health professionals who treated him at the San Juan de Dios hospital in Armenia, from where the route of care for victims of sexual abuse was immediately activated.
Upon learning about the facts reported, the Armenian Secretary of Education, Julieta Gómez de Cortes, referred to the efforts carried out by the authorities to move forward with the proper investigation. He pointed out to the above-mentioned regional media that the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare has carried out the restoration of children's rights.
“We have records of the psychological care, of the actions taken by the coexistence committee that have been carried out, and the other investigations that are carried out are subject to the Office of the Prosecutor and Police,” stressed the local official.
However, to Caracol Radio Armenia, the child's mother complained that she has not received proper accompaniment from the educational institution. For example, the mother complained that she went to school accompanied by uniforms from Sijin, to see the recordings of the security cameras and, nevertheless, they allowed her access to this material, which is why she also filed complaints with the Icbf and the Ministry of Education.
Regarding the mother's statement on the radio station, the local official explained to La Chronicle del Quindío that “we have to subject ourselves to the processes and results of the investigation. A few days later, they called me, that Sijín arrived at school because I wanted to see the cameras and that the rector was not there. So I asked the security guard to please let the police in and that they carry out their duties.”
According to the Secretary of Education, the uniformed personnel were able to collect the appropriate evidentiary material, and that it has already been handed over to a Prosecutor's Office attached to the Center for Comprehensive Care for Victims of Sexual Abuse, Caivas. He clarified that, for now, there is the idea that the aggressor was a student of a higher degree, but that the possibility that he was a private individual is not ruled out.
With the progress of the investigation, it is expected that the person responsible for the assault will be found, who will be charged with violent carnal access to a minor under 14 years of age. Although the minor was not carnally accessed in his private parts, the Colombian Penal Code establishes it from articles 208 onwards and states that any intention to harm another person to whom he penetrates with his virile member or other objects, whether through anal, vaginal or oral routes, in a forced manner shall be declared carnal access and using violence to produce intercourse or an abnormal equivalent thereof.
KEEP READING: