The Nightmare of the Sexual Abuse Victim in Qare Mohammad Village Continues

The newspaper Sepid has a field report from Qare Mohammad village in Zanjan, the home of Neda, a 9-year-old schoolgirl who was assaulted by her teacher. It states: Neda still cannot breathe from fear and "at night she lays her head on the pillow wishing to become a doctor, but hours later she wakes up from nightmares of the teacher's hands on her body." Journalist Negin Bagheri writes: "The whole village is involved in Neda's case. Even a boy who works in his father's grocery store has gone to court to testify, saying that the teacher took Neda to the school office. The villagers blame the education system." Students say that this teacher also punished them "with a hose or a stick." According to the newspaper, "Now more than 40 days have passed since those ominous gasps. Since the day the teacher entertained the other children and took Neda to the office. Initially, like previous days, he showed the girl obscene films and did the usual things. As always, he threatened her that if she told her family, he would fail her." However, the student "after months of sexual abuse, that day unlocked the office door and for the first time escaped from the teacher's hands," and although "the abusive teacher spent a few days in jail after Neda's family filed a complaint, he was later released from prison with a second letter from the forensic doctor stating that the act of rape was not fully completed and only indicated the teacher's attempt to assault the child, thus he was charged with illicit relations." The Sepid reporter notes that "on the faded door of the 22 Bahman school in Qare Mohammad village, 70 kilometers from Zanjan, the advertisements of the representatives of parliament have not yet been removed," writing that they "seem unaware of the pains of a girl who has cried out in this school for days. Even during this time, the education department of the region or province has never come to the aid of Neda's family." The newspaper mentions that Neda's family "took her for psychological counseling to the welfare organization of Zanjan province for a few days, but they no longer even have the money to go there," quoting Neda's counselor at the welfare organization as saying: "We want to help them come to Zanjan and enroll her in a good school; however, no one is providing financial support."