A Standard Two pupil at Mnagoni Primary School in Bamba, Kilifi, died after allegedly being canned by a teacher.
Mohamed Juma, 14, died on Thursday evening while being taken to Bamba Subcounty Hospital.
Ganze police boss Patrick Ngeiywa said on Friday a teacher, David Katama, has been arrested and will be taken to court.
Speaking on phone, Ngeiywa said they will seek the court’s permission to detain the suspect until investigations are complete.
“The information we got is the student was given corporal punishment. Afterwards, he started complaining of pain. We are investigating if the death was caused by the canning or a medical problem,” he said.
Mnagoni assistant chief Japhet Kalama said last week the student was canned and injured.
The father, Juma Ngari, said Mohamed was taken to hospital yesterday when his condition worsened.
“While I was taking him to the hospital he vomited blood. My son has been in pain since he was canned. He collapsed and died. The teacher should be held responsible,” Ngari said.
Mohamed’s body was taken to the Kilifi county mortuary.
An autopsy could not be done on Thursday because the parents could not afford Sh25,000.
“At first we were asked to pay Sh3,500 but later that changed Sh25,000. We were told it is because the pathologist will come from Mombasa. When police took the body we thought the procedure will be free. It will be hard to get justice because we can't afford the cash," Ngari said.
Kilifi county medical superintendent Eddy Nzomo said the family will pay Sh25,000 for a private pathologist.
"In normal cases we charge Sh3,500 out of which Sh2,000 is paid to the doctor and Sh1,500 goes to the hospital when
the procedure is done by our doctors. This particular case is a bit complicated that is why we advised the family to use a private pathologist," Nzomo said.
This is not the first incident in
which a pupil has been injured by a teacher at the school.
In April, another pupil suffered a fractured arm after receiving a beating from a teacher.
He was threatened with more punishment if he reported. His mother only knew about it after his hand started swelling.
The case was solved in a "kangaroo court". The teacher offered to foot the medical pupil's medical
bills and the pupil's father was offered a job at the school.
A local administrator
reported the matter at Bamba police station, but the parent refused to write a statement.