Former Phoenix primary school teacher on trial for allegedly grooming and raping pupil (12)

CONFESSED TO GUARDIAN

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

A FORMER Phoenix primary school teacher dismissed by the Department of Education (DoE) faces trial in the Durban High Court for allegedly grooming and raping a pupil over two years.

Santosh Maharaj, who taught at Woodview Primary School, allegedly began grooming the victim when she was just 12 years old and is accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse at various locations including the school classroom.

He allegedly told the girl that he was “madly in love” with her.

It has been alleged that Maharaj raped the girl on multiple ocassions including in a classroom and at a lodge where security guards kicked them out, when he (Maharaj) could not produce an identity document for the girl.

The girl's guardian found suspicious text messages on a hidden cellphone Maharaj allegedly gave the girl, and reported him in 2020.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial this month in the Durban High Court.

Maharaj was dismissed by the DoE in April 2021 after the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found that it was the only sanction that would “go a long way to ensure safety at schools”.

During the ELRC inquiry into the allegations against Maharaj, the DoE led the pupil as a witness through an intermediary.

In her testimony, the girl, who was 15 at the time, said that Maharaj had given her a love letter in 2018, when she was 12, and that he had constantly sexually abused and raped her until March 2020.

“She was abused sexually from the age of 12 when she was in a lower grade. It started with a love letter in 2018 until sometime in March 2020 when her guardian found out about the affair from her cellular phone given to her by Maharaj.