(By Dotun Onimole)
A young child was diagnosed with an STD after he was raped by his teacher.
The teacher in Hubei Province, in central China, is under investigation after his 7-year-old student was diagnosed with venereal disease.
The case came to light after the child was taken to the doctor with an itchy behind. A doctor confirmed that the child was sexually abused. The child then told his mother that his teacher has been sexually assaulting him for the past six months.
The 31-year-old primary school teacher in rural Wuxue City was suspended from school pending the outcome of the investigation.
During an interview, the boy told police his teacher would buy him treats and ask him to wait near the school bathroom. “The teacher gave me snacks first and then he asked me to bend over,” the boy said. The boy told police that the teacher did the same to two other classmates.
Medical tests revealed that the boy had been penetrated within the past three months and had contracted venereal warts from a HPV (human papillomavirus) infection. HPV is contracted through sexual contact and can cause genital warts and diseases like cancer.
Venereal disease experts said the child is likely to suffer from the disease for the rest of his life.
The child’s mother has to change the dressings on the infected areas every four hours. Their house had to be thoroughly disinfected to prevent the disease from spreading.
A school director said the teacher had been in the profession for 10 years. The school has 12 teachers and 146 students. Many of the students are “left behind” children, who are cared for by relatives while their parents work in other cities in China or in other countries.
The migrant population in China has increased from 6 million in 1980 to 260 million last year. According to a report published by the All-China Women’s Federation, the number of “left-behind children,” now exceeds 60 million.