Police in Nyamira are investigating an incident where a primary school teacher reportedly flogged a Grade Four pupil at Riang’ombe Primary School.
Social Media users using the tag ‘Justice for Grade 4 Pupil’ demanded for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the teacher in question for contravening the Ministry of Education’s policy on corporal punishment.
The pupil is said to have been assaulted last Sunday and upon realising his injuries were serious, his teachers conspired to conceal the incident by keeping him in the dorm and denying him medical attention.
The boy’s uncle, whom we cannot name now for the sake of protecting the minor, lamented that his nephew was allegedly given one hundred and seven—107— strokes of the cane after he went to report the theft of his clothes from the residential dormitory.
The uncle said, “I received a telephone call yesterday after work. At around 7 pm, my brother informed me from Nairobi that he had information that his son had been injured in school and asked me to go and verify the report.”
“I asked my brother how he had known about the injury of his son. He told me that our last-born brother happened to be around Manga where there were some sports going on. He said that since the school is within the vicinity, he decided to go and visit him,” added the uncle.
He stated that the attempts by the youngest brother to be allowed to see the boy were blocked by the teachers who had apparently made round-the-clock surveillance on anyone coming to visit the injured boy and blocked them.
The uncle stated that some students who knew his last-born brother came and greeted him. “They informed him that our nephew had been badly beaten up by a teacher who gave him 107 strokes of the cane for no apparent reasons.”
The primary school pupils allegedly informed the boy’s uncle that the injured pupil had washed his clothes and left them to dry. However, someone went and took away the clothes.
The uncle claimed that the boy went to report the theft of his clothes and that the teacher in question got upset and called on other boys to pin down the injured pupil where he allegedly struck him with severe canes totaling one to 107.
“The boy is unable to walk. He cannot sit up. The teachers conspired to manipulate us not to expose this issue, claiming the boy was injured slightly and that he was getting well. They claimed that the assailant had apologised and that it was necessary to protect him from losing his job,” said the uncle.
He further noted that the pupils who witnessed the beating claimed that they counted up to 107 canes on the pupil.
“I looked for the principal’s phone number and asked him why the child had been injured. The principal told me that he was not aware of the injuries. The principal told me that he had been told that the child was unwell but the disclosure of the alleged injuries had not been brought to his attention,” said the angered uncle.
“We took the boy to Nyamira hospital and after we undressed him, we noticed the injuries were very severe to an extent that a huge tissue had been cut out of his buttocks as a result of the injuries.”
He stated that after the boy’s parents learnt of the incident, they made frantic efforts to speak with the school management but their efforts were allegedly hampered by the teachers.
The boy’s father said that his son has been in the school for only two months.
“We transferred him here from Nairobi. He is not used to boarding school,” said the distraught father.
He added that they reported the incident to Nyamira police station yesterday but were referred to Manga where the incident took place.
“We are returning there today. However, our visit there was not very good. The officers were harassing my son demanding that he identifies pupils who pinned him down as he was being caned. My son is new in the school and is unable to do that,” said the father.
Records from Nyamira County Referral Hospital show that the boy has serious injuries on his buttocks.
“He was treated yesterday and discharged. He is now recuperating at home,” said the father.
