A mum has revealed her heartbreak after ‘heartless, disgusting, vile people’ trashed the grave of her dead daughter.
Semina Halliwell, 12, died on June 12 after taking her own life because she was raped and cruelly bullied.
Her mum Rachel, from Southport in Merseyside, feared in July that bullies would gatecrash her daughter’s funeral.
But a family friend discovered on Tuesday that Semina’s grave had been ‘completely desecrated’.
Rachel said: ‘It was covered in bricks and rocks and there was dog mess all over it. It was clearly done on purpose.
‘Heartless, disgusting, vile people. There are no words to describe these evil people that could do this to a 12-year-old girl’s grave.’
The grave has since been cleaned up by Semina’s friends and family.
A screenshot from social media in recent days appears to show someone offering money to anyone who would ‘trash’ Semina’s grave and film it.
Previous screenshots from Snapchat at around the time of the funeral also seemed to show people making fun of Semina’s death, and even threatening to ‘trash’ her grave.
Merseyside Police confirmed officers are inspecting the desecration of the grave.
Community inspector Graham Fisher said: ‘The community will no doubt share our shock and revulsion that a grave could be desecrated like this.
‘This is the final resting place of a beloved family member, and I can only imagine how upsetting it must have been for their loved ones to find that the grave had been treated in this way.
‘While thankfully no permanent damage has been caused, it will have caused lasting distress to the family.
‘I want to appeal to anyone who may have been visiting the cemetery in recent days and witnessed anything suspicious to contact us so that we can bring the perpetrators of this callous crime to justice.’
Anyone with information can call the police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Rachel has spoken out on multiple occasions over the summer about her daughter’s ordeal.
She said Semina, who went to Stanley High School, was left ‘traumatised’ by what happened.
It was reported in March that a 12-year-old was raped at an address in Southport on February 25.
An investigation was launched and Semina was bullied both online and in person about her ordeal.
‘After having her innocence taken, Semina was bullied online on a daily basis,’ Rachel said. ‘She couldn’t take it any more.’
Her mum shared videos on social media which appeared to show Semina being hit, kicked, and dragged to the floor around a month after the alleged rape.
Rachel said she wants people to see the footage, adding: ‘I want the whole country to see what my daughter went through. I will not stop until I get justice for my baby.’
She is now crowdfunding to set up a charity to help raise awareness of ‘online grooming and bullying’.
Merseyside Police said it is still investigating the report of rape, and a ‘number of allegations relating to the same alleged victim received before and since her tragic death’.
A spokesperson said: ‘A report was received on March 23 that a 12-year-old girl had been raped at an address in Southport on February 25. An investigation was launched and a juvenile voluntarily attended a police station for interview.
‘Extensive enquiries are ongoing into this allegation and other matters relating to the same alleged victim, and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.’
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