“The victim was transported by ambulance for medical attention and succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital”
A DEVASTATED mother is still waiting for answers after her 14-year-old daughter was fatally stabbed in the principal’s office, allegedly by a fellow pupil, at Rosedale Primary School in Upington yesterday morning.
Raneisha “Poena” Athleen van Wyk, a Grade 8 pupil, was allegedly stabbed in the chest with a knife by a 16-year-old pupil just after 7am, after the two were called to the principal’s office.
It is believed that the two were summoned to the principal’s office following an altercation on the school’s premises on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old female pupil allegedly stabbed Van Wyk while they were waiting for the principal in his office. The principal was apparently not in his office at the time of the incident.
Van Wyk succumbed to her injuries in an ambulance on her way to the hospital.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba confirmed yesterday that the Rosedale police were investigating a murder after a 16-year-old female pupil allegedly fatally stabbed another 14-year-old female pupil at a school in Rosedale.
Ramatseba said that no one had been arrested yet.
“The victim was transported by ambulance for medical attention and succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital,” said Ramatseba.
Raneisha’s death is the second tragedy to hit the family, after Raneisha’s aunt, Samoline Solomons, was allegedly shot several times by her husband in front of her mother and 10-year-old daughter.
Solomons was buried in Upington on Saturday and her husband, 42-year-old Collin Solomons, appeared in court this week where he was denied bail.
The family said yesterday that they were still struggling to come to terms with the first tragedy, when they were informed about yesterday’s stabbing.
The devastated family questioned why they had not been informed about the initial fight at the school.
“The first we heard about it was when the principal came to the house in the morning and told us that she had been rushed to hospital,” a family member said.
Raneisha’s aunt, Tia van Wyk, described her as a normal teenager who never complained and kept her challenges and problems to herself. “She ever mentioned anything at home about Tuesday’s fight, but that was just how she was.
“We believed that she might have been going through something but we couldn’t put our finger on what was happening. We just noticed that there was a drop in her school performance,” said the aunt.
She added that Raneisha used to be a straight A pupil but her marks had dropped drastically this year.
“It came to the point where she was almost failing. We were worried – we didn’t know if she was being bullied or what – because she was someone who had always received many academic and sports certificates.” The Northern Cape Department of Education yesterday expressed its concern about the fatal stabbing and said it was still investigating what had triggered the incident.
According to department spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe, the alleged perpetrator was issued with a suspension letter pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.
He said the pupil would be isolated and would continue to write her year-end examinations under supervision.
The department has also deployed its Employee Support Services to provide counselling sessions for the directly affected teachers and pupils, while the district office is monitoring the situation closely.
