By Joseph KB Morison, ManoReporters
The family of a 14-year-old girl in Kpetewoma, Bo is demanding justice for her alleged sexual penetration by a school teacher.
The suspect, Mohamed Jabati, allegedly leveraged his influence as a teacher at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Junior Secondary School in Kpetewoma Town, where the girl attended, to sexually abuse her.
The girl was awaiting her BECE results when the incident occurred on 25th October, 2025.
The suspect, who taught social studies, is reported to have been on the run since he was confronted about the issue.
The alleged victim told ManoReporters that Jabati expressed love interest in her earlier in July when they traveled to Sumbuya Town to write the Junior Secondary School Leaving Certificate Exams. Jabati was one of the teachers who accompanied the school team to the exams center, alongside the Principal, she said.
The girl said she rejected Jabati’s proposal on the grounds that he was her teacher and noting that her education was her priority. She claimed that at this point Jabati threatened to seize her results if she failed to accept his proposal.
“Mr. Jabati said if I don’t accept him, my parents will not see my BECE result and I was worried,” she said in an interview in the presence of her mother.
Fast forward on Saturday 25th October, according to the girl, the suspect’s mother invited her to their house to share some ‘gari’ with her. She said Jabati asked her to tidy his bedroom, and while she did that, he rushed into the room, closed the door behind him and grabbed her on her neck. She said he placed a pillow on her mouth to prevent her from shouting for help as he sexually assaulted her.
“His mother was in the house but she could not come to my aid when her son was raping me in their house,” she lamented.
The girl said after raping her, the suspects warned her against speaking to anyone about it, threatening to seize her results and harm her.
Isata Barrie, the victim’s mother, recalled that on the fateful day, Jabati’s girlfriend visited their home and complained that whenever she was out of town, the victim would go and clean her boyfriend’s home. This was how the family came to learn about the rape of their daughter, according to the mother, after pursing the allegations against her.
The issue soon degenerated into a problem within the victim’s family. Her father threw both mother and daughter out of the house after learning that she had been deflowered long before this incident.
The victim’s maternal grandmother told ManoReporters that her son-in-law was angry after learning that his daughtered had been deflowered long ago. The father reportedly said he learnt this was uncovered when the girl underwent the female traditional initiation – Bondo. He said the Sowie (the head of the female secret society) told him that the grandmother had bribed her with NLe20 back in 2024 in the Bondo bush to bury the story.
But the Grandmother, Rugiatu Tsalaha, denied this, noting that she had no monetary transaction with the sowie concerning the loss of her grandchild’s virginity.
“My son-in-law drove my children from his house because he said the mother knows about the loss of her daughter’s virginity, as alleged by the Sowie. I went to the Sowie and asked her about the allegation, but she denied it,” Ms Tsalaha said, insisting that they only knew about the loss of the granddaughter’s virginity on the day of the incident with Jabati.
The Sowie, Isata Sheriff, confirmed that she had discovered that the girl wasn’t a virgin at the Bondo Bush.
“We have one part in the Bondo initiation where we can check all initiates if they are still virgin. After conducting the check, the victim was not in her natural position. It shows that a finger had penetrated into her Virginia,” she said.
The issue has sparked tension in the community, amid allegations of interference and compromise in sexual and gender based violence by community leaders.
Town Chief Mustapha L. Steven confirmed that the rape allegation was reported to him, but he said he quickly referred the family to the police as it is outside his jurisdiction. He also said that there was serious fighting between members of the victim’s family and accused, which he and his leadership quickly resolved.
“We the town chiefs don’t have the right to resolve any sexual penetration matter. So I directed them to the police. The only action we performed was to stop the two parties from fighting,” Chief Steven said.
Meanwhile, at the Ahmadiyya Junior Secondary School in Kpetewoma Lugbu, Principal Judith Amie Pessima said she was not officially informed about the issue. But she noted that at the time of this interview, on October 29, Jabati had not reported for work for five days.
And according to Principal Pessima, Jabati was a volunteer teacher, paid by contributions from community members whose kids are enrolled in the school. She said she had however reported the matter to the Mission Secretary and the school supervisor in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education.
Kpetewoma, located in Lugbu Chiefdom, Bo District, is a mining community and home to mainly artisanal miners in diamond. Sexual and gender based violence is rampant there, especially affecting school going pupils. Issa Foray, Youth Chairman of the Town, said because of widespread poverty in the community among locals, some families are vulnerable to abuse.
It turns out this isn’t the first time Jabati has been accused of rape. According to the youth chairman, two years back he was accused of the same act involving a sister of his latest victim. The community elders reportedly resolved the matter even though it had been already reported to the police.
Hassan Shour, a member of the victim’s family, corroborated Foray’s claim. He said Jabati must have been motivated to repeat the same act because of how the matter was treated the first time.
“Because of the involvement of the elders in the first act, the matter was resolved but this one we cannot allow any third party to intervene” he said.
None of the suspect’s family members were available for comment when a ManoReporters reporter visited the community to investigate the story.
The Police in Bo said they were investigating the matter.
