Nairobi –
Six teachers in Kenya was arrested by the police after a video showing elementary school students performing sexual simulations as punishment for being viral. The six teachers were also suspended by the school.
As reported by AFP, Friday (3/2/2023), the footage shows four boys in school uniforms performing simulated sexual acts under a tree in the school grounds. The six teachers also witnessed the actions of the male students.
Not only that, in the 29-second video you can hear the six teachers talking and laughing out loud when a bare-chested child wipes tears from his face. Local police said the clip showed the students “indecent acts” and was filmed in Nyamache, a rural town, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the capital Nairobi.
“Six teachers, five women and a man, were arrested and are assisting with investigations,” police said in a report seen by AFP.
“Other matters and reports will follow,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Teacher Services Commission (TSC) suspended the six teachers. The Teacher Services Commission said the video involving six Year Two students caused “trauma, psychological, mental abuse and embarrassment to minors.”
“You are instructing, or coercing students, to engage in indecent or inappropriate acts that depict homosexuality within the school complex,” TSC’s Evaleen Mitei wrote in a letter to teachers.
“The teachers, who are also present in court, have three weeks to make a written defense against their suspension,” Mitei added.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are seeking to detain them for another seven days to complete their investigation. The incident sparked outrage on social media with many calls for action in the largely conservative Christian nation.
Later, Kenya’s Education Minister, Ezekiel Machogu, promised teachers would face disciplinary action and would be dismissed if found guilty. According to Kenya’s sexual offenses act, a person found guilty of forcing another person to commit an indecent act faces a prison sentence of not less than five years.
(country/country)