Teacher arrested after 15-year-old learner is defiled

A teacher has been arrested on suspicion of dragging a 15-year-old Form One student into a school toilet and defiling her.

The Biology teacher at Highridge Girls Secondary School in Nairobi is said to have lured the student to his office during preps and then attacked her last Wednesday.

He was the duty teacher, entrusted with the welfare and good behaviour of the students during and after evening studies.

It is alleged that the school did not report the rape until after three days, and then, only after students threatened to go on strike and beat up the teacher.

The girl’s parents said they learnt of the attack from the police and not from the school. Again they were informed on Monday, days after the attack.

The student was taken to the Nairobi Women’s Hospital on Saturday, three days after the attack, where she was treated, given painkillers and post-exposure prophylaxis drugs, which are used to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection after exposure.

The girl’s mother, who can’t be named to protect the identity of the victim, said she was worried that if the teacher has HIV, the drugs might not help because they were administered after the recommended 72 hours.

The teacher is being questioned by police.

Breaches of trust and violent sexual crimes against students by teachers have been on the rise in Kenya. So far, the Teachers Service Commission has sacked 96 teachers for having sexual relations with students.

COVER-UP

Recent cases have been reported in Nakuru, Vihiga, Migori counties and now Nairobi and some of the cases are already in court, including that of a Nakuru teacher accused of defiling six of his students.

In the Highridge case, police are also investigating why the attack was not reported immediately, with the parents of the student claiming that the school attempted to cover up the incident.

The victim’s mother said the school had not contacted her despite the administration having the mobile phone numbers of all the parents in the school.

“They also did not report the defilement to the police until Monday morning when students started shouting during parade and threatened to go on strike and beat up the teacher,” she said.

Her daughter told her that she tried asking to be allowed to call her parents but the school authorities refused.

“My daughter said she had pain in her ears because the teacher slapped her when she tried to escape. She said he threatened her with suspension if she told anyone that he had raped her,” she said.

When she went to the Nairobi County Police Headquarters to get a P3 form she was told to wait because the police wanted an original medical report instead of the photocopy that the school had given her.

Yesterday, Gigiri police chief Vitalis Otieno said the teacher who was being held at Parklands Police Station will be taken for medical examination.

“We will then arraign him in court to answer to charges of defilement. If we discover that there was an attempt to cover up the incident, we will also arrest those involved,” he said.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, led by the Gigiri DCIO, Mr Daniel Kandie, spent the better part of yesterday morning at the school interrogating teachers, students and support staff.

The school matron, only identified as Mrs Manea, said she was the one who took the girl to hospital but denied being in school at the time of the incident.

“I took her to hospital with instructions from the principal. I did not cover up anything. The girl did not report the alleged rape immediately,” she said.

She, however, could not explain why she did not report the matter to the police or to the girl’s parents. The principal, Mrs Mulaku, could not be reached. Her secretary said the school head was in a meeting.

A teacher who sought anonymity claimed the student was promised that disciplinary action would be taken against the rapist.

“The teacher was on Thursday called to the principal’s office where they had a long talk,” said the informant.

According to the source, the headgirl had informed the teachers on Saturday that students had become agitated and that they wanted action.

On Monday, during assembly, they started shouting, asking the school to involve the police.