Illegal abortion leaves JHS 2 student’s fate in the balance

A 15-year-old JHS 2 student of the Tishegu Anglican Junior High School A in the Tamale Metropolis, Northern Region who was allegedly defiled and impregnated by a trainee teacher is battling complications resulting from an illegal abortion.

The girl is bleeding and experiencing lower abdominal pains but her parents and the trainee teacher, Kamal Aliu from the Bagabaga College of Education are yet to send her for professional care for fear of being reported to the police.

Since the illegal abortion a month ago, her family members claim they are waiting for Kamal Aliu, who initially denied responsibility for the pregnancy but later changed his position, to provide the financing for medical care.

Graphic Online’s Mohammed Fugu, reporting from Tamale, learned the trainee teacher was posted to the Tishegu Anglican Junior High School A for his teaching practice and had an amorous relationship with the girl resulting in the pregnancy.

However, Mr. Aliu after realizing that the girl was pregnant for about three months allegedly directed her to buy drugs and abort the pregnancy secretly to prevent the school authorities from noticing.
When contacted, the teacher trainee admitted impregnating the girl, but declined further comment.

Victim’s account

The victim said the trainee teacher lured her into a friend’s room one afternoon and had unprotected sex with her and asked her not to tell anybody.

She said the teacher had invited her and her friends, and as they were sitting in the room chatting, all her friends left without her noticing, so the teacher started fondling her and the next thing she realized, he had had sex with her. Their romps however continued thereafter.

She said she confided in her brother’s wife when she missed her period for some months, and she in turn advised her to go for a pregnancy test at a drug store, which confirmed she was pregnant.

According to the girl, when she informed Aliu about her condition, he failed to give her money for an abortion, so she used her little ‘susu’ savings to buy drugs to abort it.

School Headmaster

When contacted, the Headmaster of the Tishegu Anglican Junior High School A who only gave his name as Chief confirmed knowledge of the incident and said he was to file a complaint with the school’s Disciplinary Committee for the necessary actions.

He said his attention had just been drawn to the incident and until the Disciplinary Committee meeting, he could not comment further.

Family reaction

The family also claimed all attempts by the girl’s parents to meet the trainee teacher to resolve the case amicably at home to avoid dragging the issue to the police proved futile as he always rejected their calls.

Mr. Yakubu Alhassan, a brother of the victim said the family has reported the matter to the school authorities for the necessary action to be taken and was also considering sending the girl to the hospital for medical checkup.

“We are very sad about the incident because my sister’s health condition keep deteriorating so we want justice to be served, initially we tried meeting the gentleman for us to resolve everything amicably without dragging each other to the police, but he refused to meet us, he even initially denied, but later confirmed that he had sex with the girl when I reported the matter to the headmaster on Tuesday.”