Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said there was still no solid evidence for the SAPS to arrest or charge the schoolgirl. Picture: Chris Collingride/African News Agency (ANA)
Johannesburg - Claims and allegations about the high school girl who allegedly joked about being raped by Grade 11 pupil Bafana Sithole should not be used as leverage to charge her, Mpumalanga police said.
Sithole died by suicide on the school premises last week after he was allegedly accused of raping a fellow pupil.
It is alleged that the girl, who cannot be named or revealed as she is a minor, allegedly later claimed that she did not mean what she said about the rape incident.
Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said there was still no solid evidence for the SAPS to arrest or charge the schoolgirl.
"In the hands of the police, no one has submitted a statement formally to say that the girl is sorry and that she falsely accused Sithole of such. If there is no one to take ownership, then we cannot say the girl falsely accused the deceased," he said.
Mohlala added that the police were aware of a suicide note doing social media rounds that was said to have been written by the deceased and addressed to his mother, adding the police were also uncertain if messages of apology allegedly sent by the girl had been fabricated or not.
"The so-called apology people are talking about that the girl is being attached to, there is no one who came in and claimed ownership of that apology," he said.
He made it clear that in the absence of solid evidence that Sithole wrote the letter to the mother and the girl apologised, then there is no case.
He appealed to community members to come forward with valid information instead of using social media to address serious matters and further warned that such allegations would jeopardise investigations around the incident.
"We condemn all the interference with the investigation," he said.
Mohlala stated that the girl can only be charged if the investigations revealed that she falsely accused the deceased of rape.
* Anyone with thoughts of suicide can call Sadag 0800 567 567 or SMS 31393.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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