Ruavatu Provincial Secondary School (RPSS) in North East Guadalcanal will close its academic year as of this weekend.
Ministry of Education and the Guadalcanal Provincial Education Authority agreed to close down school for an indefinite period of time in a meeting held in Honiara on Monday.
The decision to close the school for the year came after group of thugs mostly youths from the nearby villages entered the female’s dormitory and abducted a couple of girls and allegedly raped one.
A statement from Police Media Unit yesterday said more than 15 boys were alleged to have forced their way into the school girl’s dormitory threatening and indecently harassed a large number of girls who were still sleeping on Saturday morning.
Police victim statements revealed that after the suspects have harassed the sleeping girls, they carried away two young girls age 14 and 16 year old to an unknown site and believed to have committed the rape report.
Police responded quickly and arrested the suspects from Siara and Tupa villages and also retrieved one female victim safely to her home.
Maesac Suia Guadalcanal Provincial Chief Education Officer (CEO) yesterday confirmed the school will officially close for the year this Saturday.
“I met with the officials from the Ministry of Education and we agree to close down the school early since the problem is still tense.
“We agreed the school will be closed this Saturday until further notice,” Mr Suia said.
He said the school will have its early break until the matter is resolved.
Following the incident most of students in forms one, two and four have been sent home while students in forms three, five and six have been transported to Honiara to sit for their exams.
Mr Suia said two separate exam venues have been arranged in town for the boys and girls.
Female students from forms three, five and six are having their exams at the Guadalcanal Women Resources Centre (GWRC) in east Honiara while all the boys (F3,5&6) are having their exams at Tamboko school, North West Guadalcanal.
Mr Suia said classes at Ruavatu is likely to start next year.
The CEO has urged all parents to stay calm while authorities and the Police are dealing with the issue.
Meanwhile Police at Guadalcanal have arrested five (5) male suspects following the incident.
Police investigation revealed that most of the suspects are mostly teenage boys aged between 16 and 18 years old who were involved in the rape of a teenage girl and the abduction of another girl who now returned home safely.
Following the arrests, police also arrested two other suspects on arson and escape from lawful custody cases. They are being remanded for further investigations.
By DENVER NEWTER
