An 11-year-old Australian girl of indigenous origin, a victim of sexual abuse, committed suicide yesterday after her alleged rapist was released.
Speaking to The West Australian newspaper, the girl’s mother claimed that her daughter was traumatized and she “did not feel safe” with the rapist at large. “She had a charming personality, she was cheerful and outgoing,” she added. She was the second youngest of five siblings.
The mother claimed that the Australian police and courts defrauded her daughter, who was in her sixth year of school.
The elderly alleged abuser had been arrested last month and charged with numerous counts of sexual abuse of minors. However, he was released on bail on the same day that he appeared before the court.
The rapist lived in the same rural town as the family. The mother of the little girl expressed that her family did not feel comfortable having the accused so close.
Despite the fact that the defendant’s bail conditions prevented him from having contact with the girl, she was still afraid.
Yesterday her loved ones said goodbye to the girl at Perth Children’s Hospital, where they had admitted after she injured herself this week.
Family members expressed their wish to see the case made visible. “I just wanted this to be known. I want it to be heard,” said one of the minor’s aunts.
Despite all efforts to eradicate it, the scourge of child sexual abuse in Australia remains a huge concern, especially in small towns.
No place has been unaffected by these types of crimes, but the number of victims in smaller communities has received more attention.
The large sums of money invested to combat child abuse and its treatment appear, at least from today’s point of view, to offer disappointing results.
The Minister of Police of the Government of Western Australia, Michelle Roberts said last night his concern about the case. “Of course I am worried. The death of any child is always distressing,” she said.
“I will ask the police for advice on this case, but I cannot add anything else at this time, just extend my thoughts and prayers to the young woman and her family,” she added.
The director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, Megan Krakouer, who has been supporting the family, said the silence around child sexual abuse should be broken, according to The West Australian.
Gerry Georgatos, another of the directors of the aforementioned project, said that the alleged rapist should not have been released on bail and that pretrial detention laws should be strengthened for those accused of child sexual abuse. “The police must also do much more to help impoverished and vulnerable families,” he added to the aforementioned Australian media.
The suicide rates of indigenous children in Western Australia have received significant public attention following last year’s investigation by Coroner Ros Fogliani into the deaths of thirteen indigenous youths in three and half years in Kimberley.