A teacher at Gongoni Primary School in Kilifi who reportedly administered corporal punishment to Grade 8 pupils, leading to the death of one of them, has been arrested.
The teacher, identified as Mr Ian Tembo reportedly struck the heads of the pupils on September 19, injuring one, Anestine Tunje, who died days later in hospital.
"The DCI summoned the teacher Ian Tembo Mwavuna, where he reported and booked in police cells awaiting custodial orders at Mtwapa Police Station," stated a police report.
A report filed at the police station indicates that the DCI was to move to court yesterday to seek custodial orders pending conclusion of the investigation.
A postmortem report shows that the girl, 15, sustained a head injury caused by blunt force trauma that caused blood haemorrhage into the brain and cerebral oedema.
The girl reportedly complained of a severe headache after being caned by her teacher.
"As a result of my examination, I formed the opinion that the cause of death was haemorrhage with head injury, with features of minimal left parietal haemorrhage of about 50 ml, secondary to blunt force trauma consistent with assault," a report of the postmortem done on Tuesday at the Kilifi Referral Hospital.
A CT scan done on September 22 showed bleeding within the brain tissues. "A small left parietal subcortical parenchymal haemorrhage with minimal perilesional oedema" states the report.
The girls' father, Alex Tunje, said that his daughter returned home from her school on the day she was allegedly caned by the teacher, complaining of a headache.
He said he gave her money to buy painkillers, as she declined to go to the hospital because they were preparing for exams the following day.
"Then she came home and told me she had a bad headache. I wanted to take her to the hospital, but she told me her classmates are busy preparing for exams, so she requested money to buy painkillers. I gave her the money, and she went back to school," he said.
On Friday morning, her situation deteriorated, forcing Tunje to take her to a nearby hospital, where she was tested for malaria and other common illnesses, which came out negative.
This prompted the doctor to give her painkillers to ease the headache. Tunje says his daughter got temporary relief on Saturday, but on Sunday morning, September 21, she woke up in a critical condition and couldn't speak.
A chest and head CT scan was done at the hospital on 22 September, and the doctors realised that she had severe head injuries which had caused internal head bleeding, and immediate specialised treatment was introduced.
On Thursday, September 25, she was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she succumbed in the evening.
Tunje says his daughter didn't disclose that she had been caned at school earlier. "It's when she died that her classmates disclosed that she had been caned on that day," he said.
Caroline Mbeyu, the girl's grandmother and a teacher in Kilifi, has urged teachers to be careful when dealing with students.
"As a teacher, if you have frustrations, do not go to class. It's better you stay in the office. We want the government to take action to curb any similar cases that might happen in the future to protect our children in school," she said.
Walid Skeety, a human rights activist from Vocal Africa, has condemned the action, terming it a human rights violation, and called for the immediate arrest of the teacher.
Kilifi North Deputy County Commissioner Samuel Mutisya said a report on the case has been filed with the police.
"We received the allegations of the pupil's assault, and we are in the process of doing investigations, and the right procedures will be taken in due time," said Mutisya.
