WATCH | Disabled pupil assaulted on school bus in Soweto

A Soweto mother has laid charges against a teacher and bus driver after her 16-year-old disabled daughter was repeatedly assaulted on a school bus.

This is after she was alerted to a video showing her daughter being assaulted by a woman.

A video sent to Radio 702 shows the woman identified as the caretaker repeatedly assaulting the girl until she is restrained by the driver of the bus‚ who then drags the pupil out of the bus.

The child is then left lying on the ground crying.

The girl’s mother‚ who was identified as Tumi‚ told the radio station that the video was sent to her by a woman whose child had filmed the incident.

“On Tuesday‚ on my way from work a lady called me and she said she is a mother of the child who took a video of my child being assaulted and abused. She asked if I saw the video. It was not okay for me to see it‚” the mother said.

“I went to the school to report this … I was not happy with how the school handled the situation.”

She said the school treated the matter casually and had not called her since she reported it.

“They didn’t even care. They didn’t even call and check up on us.”

She said she was not aware why her child was beaten up.

“It is difficult to understand why. My daughter is bipolar‚ mentally disabled and she has epilepsy. She cannot remember anything exactly the way it happened.

“No one understands what happened‚ it is the caretaker and the driver who understand because they are the only stable people in the bus.”

When the mother was speaking to 702‚ she said she was on her way to the police station to report the incident.

The SA Federation for Mental Health has condemned the incident.

“Although we welcome the fact that the staff member responsible has allegedly been placed on suspension and charged with assault‚ the video highlights the mistreatment that many people with mental disabilities still face‚” the organisation said in a statement.

“Persons with mental disabilities are often vulnerable to abuse and discrimination‚ and children with mental disabilities especially need our protection and care.

“The fact that adults who are entrusted with the care of vulnerable children would physically and verbally abuse them in this way is shocking and is a blatant violation of the learner’s human rights.”