Cape Town – A 16-year-old boy from Tygerberg, Cape Town, was raped on a school rugby tour, but authorities did nothing, Die Burgernewspaper reported on Thursday.

The attack, which took place on March 17 between pupils of a high school in the city, was filmed on cellphones and widely distributed. It appeared to be part of initiation proceedings. 

The victim’s mother told Die Burger that the Edgemead High Schools’ first team rugby had camped near Velddrift on the West Coast, and played a rugby match against a local school.

The boy was allegedly raped with a broom handle and a banana later that night.

‘Hysterical’

“On Friday night at around 11.30pm, my son sent me a ‘please call me’,” the mother said.

“He was hysterical and told me that the older boys wanted to shave his head… I insisted on speaking to them, but they told me I couldn’t tell them what to do, and ended the call.”

The boy then reportedly asked his rugby coach, Brandon Grant, for help, but he was told that he had to “stand up for yourself and be a man”.

The next night, after the victim had gone to sleep, he was allegedly attacked in his bed and raped. The attackers also shaved his eyebrows, squirted toothpaste up his nose and drew a phallic object on his forehead.

The victim’s parents removed their traumatised son from the school and laid a charge at the Bothasig police station on March 20.

Police told them on Wednesday that the perpetrators would not be prosecuted, as the boy had not been examined by a district surgeon at the time of the assault.

According to the boy’s mother, she was originally told by police that a medical examination was unnecessary, as the photographic evidence would be enough. The school’s headmaster told Die Burger the school had held an “internal disciplinary hearing”, and that several boys had been put on temporary suspension.

The Western Cape education department said it will investigate the incident.