
Sowetan newspaper today friday in Pretoria said that the teacher was jailed on wednesday for hitting an eight year old pupil with a hosepipe for failing a class test.The incident occurred on February 8,2014 at Gordon's Primary School in Alexandra,north of Johannesburg.The publication quoted the Magistrate Gideon Suhnetler,as saying that it was time teachers realised that corporal punishment was outlawed in South Africa.A medical doctor testified that the child suffered hand sepsis,a skin infection that changed the wound to various colours.''Her hands no longer works properly and there are fears it might not recover entirely''.The pupil also testified via a video feed that the teacher assaulted her,claiming that she had copied from another pupil.The pupils mum told the magistrate court in Alexandra Johannesburg,that the teacher offered her bribe to close the case.The teacher said she paid the money after being told to do so by her Head Master.The head master wanted the matter settled before the media got the information.The Magistrate however said that it was impossible for an adult like the teacher to accept a liability if she had not committed the offence.The magistrate said the teachers's testimony was not trustworthy and was aimed at defending herself.The Newspaper quoted the prosecutor,Jackie Letsoalo,as requesting the court to jail the teacher for five years.The magistrate exercised leniency and jailed her for one year because she was the sole bread winner in her family and had two children.The teacher's husband is unemployed.This is the first time a teacher had been sentence to prison,for canning a child.
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