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Teacher 'ignored teenage girl's cries for help' as she was gang raped at school in Austria

The teacher is being investigated by police for allegedly failing to stop the abuse

Lizzie Dearden
Tuesday 16 February 2016 17:27 GMT
Austrian police are investigating
Austrian police are investigating (AFP/Getty Images)

A teacher is being investigated by Austrian police for allegedly ignoring a 15-year-old girl’s cries of help as she was gang raped at school.

Six boys, then aged 15 and 16, have been charged with the attack at a secondary school in Graz and the investigation continues.

The Kleine Zeitung newspaper reported that the victim was raped in the medical room in May last year but did not report the abuse until she felt able to confide in a member of staff at a new school.

A police investigation has since revealed that it was not the only attack on the girl, who reportedly screamed as she was harassed by the same group of boys in the school toilets just two weeks before the rape.

“Students allegedly alerted her teacher and asked her to do something,” the Kleine Zeitung reported.

“Instead, she reportedly blamed the 15-year-old for turning up late to class.”

In addition to the teacher and suspected rapists, 11 people are being investigated for complicity in the crime or failure to help the victim.

The number includes an unknown number of schoolgirls who allegedly watchedwhile she was raped.

Hansjörg Bacher, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office, confirmed the report to The Local.

He did not immediately respond to the Independent’s request for comment.

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