Girl, 12, took her own life after making sexual assault allegation, inquest hears
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A 12-year-old girl who took her own life after making a sexual assault allegation "felt like she wasn't believed", her mother has told an inquest. Warning: Readers may find some of the details of this story distressing. Semina Halliwell died on 12 June, 2021, three days after attempting to take her own life at their home in Southport, Merseyside.
In March 2021, she told her mother she had been sexually assaulted in January of that year. Her mother Rachel Halliwell said Semina had been a "happy little girl" but began to self-harm after starting high school. Ms Halliwell told the coroner's court the assault "destroyed [Semina] mentally, physically".
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Ms Halliwell said after reporting the incident to the police Semina initially withdrew the complaint. "She felt like she wasn't believed," Ms Halliwell said. "I think to say to a 12-year-old child, 'it is going to take 18 months to two years to go to court, do you really want it hanging over your head' and 'it's your word against his' is not what any woman or child who has been through sexual assault or rape needs to hear and she was 12 with autism.".
