A high school student has narrated a heart-rending tale of torture at the hands of his teachers, leading to him losing a testicle in yet another disturbing incident of corporal punishment in schools in Gusii.
The incident happened Monday at Nyabisia Secondary School, in Nyamache division, Bobasi constituency.
The 19-year-old student said five teachers and a school security guard brutalised him and damaged one of his testicles, which doctors said was raptured as a result of the severe beating. The damaged reproductive organ was removed at Hema hospital in Kisii town.
This is the second incident involving rogue teachers beating up and leading to a student losing his testis, after minor offences committed by the learners. A week ago, another student suffered the same fate after vicious beatings by his teachers.
The incidents have been met with outrage from parents, who have called on the Ministry of Education to take stern measures against culpable teachers to curb the increasing cases of torture that appear to be rampant in schools.
Police in Kisii who confirmed the incident said they will arrest and have the suspects prosecuted.
Read: Doctors remove boy’s testicle after brutal beating from teachers | Nation
The county police boss, Mr Charles Kases, told journalists after visiting the student in the hospital that the beatings and injuries the student suffered are deplorable. The police decried the severe injuries the student suffered and said the culprits will face criminal charges.
“This is grievous bodily harm. I am calling upon students and teachers who witnessed the assault of this student to come forward and record statements before we arrest the suspects,” said Mr Kases.
The student was found allegedly cheating in the ongoing end of term exams and the teachers decided to administer corporal punishment, leaving him with severe injuries in his testicles.
After being caught with a suspected leaked exam paper, the student claimed that the teachers forced him into what students at the school chillingly described as a “torture chamber” and allegedly tied him up before he was subjected to beatings for two hours.
The student was left with a bloody scrotum, and when he was taken to hospital, doctors at Hema Hospital in Kisii town, where he is admitted, found his testis was damaged.
Speaking with difficulty due to the pain, the student whose name is being withheld to protect him due to the nature of his injuries, said he and his classmates were sharing a piece of paper circulating in the exam room.
He had just received the apparently leaked exam paper when the invigilator caught him and he was pulled out of the exam room.
“Before I could explain how I received the paper, the invigilator and one of the teachers in the school became violent and pushed me out of the exam room,” said the student.
“I was forced to enter into a room, which I had heard students in the school discuss in chilling terms as a “torture chamber” used by the school administration to brutalise students with impunity.”
The student said he joined the school recently.
He resisted entering the “torture chamber”, he said, and insisted that he was not the originator of the piece of paper that was circulating in class.
“I begged them not to beat me up but instead have my paper canceled if they felt I was cheating. I also informed the teachers that I was not the only one who had access to that piece of paper and that I had just received it, and had not even used it in answering my exam questions,” narrated the student.
One of the teachers set on him with kicks and blows when he refused to enter the room.
The teachers tore up his trousers, leaving him half naked, before they beat him senseless.
Read: Grade Four pupil left with horrific injuries after teacher gave him 107 cane strokes | Nation
“My mathematics teacher set on me with slaps, kicks and blows, before lifting and slamming me on the ground three times. I passed out,” said the student.
“After they managed to lock me up in the room (the “torture chamber”), they brought ropes and tied my feet and hands very tightly. They then brought a wooden trunk, which they put between my legs and hands. I kept on pleading with them to let me go home if they felt I had violated any school rule,” said the student.
The student went on: “After inserting the wooden trunk between my legs and trapping my hands tight, they again tightened the trap with the rope such that I didn’t have any space to move. One of the teachers kicked me on the chest and stepped on my neck to pin me to the ground, and I felt he was out to kill me.”
“They brought electric cables and started mercilessly whipping me, each of them hitting me like they were out to kill a wild animal. As they kept viciously whipping me I felt a piercing pain in my testicular area. I told them they had injured me badly. They said ‘mambo bado’ (you have not felt any pain yet). They continued the beating, targeting the area I had complained of. I passed out,” narrated the student, whose story was difficult to hear.
The student found himself in the dormitory and other students who saw him bleeding asked him if he knew the extent of his injuries.
“The students who took me to the dorms told me that I was bleeding very badly. The teachers were told that I was not in good shape. They came and called for hot water and salt, purporting to do first aid,” said the student.
“I asked to be taken to hospital. The teachers attempted to entice me not go to because that might lead to police getting involved,” said the student.
The school administration tried to get him not to press any criminal charges against the teachers and told him that the matter will be settled amicably.
When the Nation team arrived at the school, the principal and teachers who were mentioned adversely were not there. The principal did not answer calls and other members of staff refused to speak to journalists.
The incident, which happened in Nyamache division, started trending on social media triggering outrage from the public who questioned why schools in Kisii were violating Ministry of Education rules against corporal punishment in schools.
The student’s parents appealed to Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu to intervene and have the culprits pay for their crime.
Last week, two teachers gave a student a vicious beating, leading to him losing his testis. BY DAILY NATION