Police in Mbeya
Region are holding five teachers from Mbeya Day Secondary School in
connection with the much-documented brutal beating of a student at the
learning institution - both in print and video.
A video clip
purporting to show more than three teachers brutally beating the
student, including on the head and at one point kicking him and throwing
him on the floor, went viral on various social networks within and
outside the country.
Speaking to the
'Daily News' in a telephone interview, Mbeya Regional Police Commander
(RPC), Mr Dhahiri Kidavashari, said the five teachers were being held as
part of the ongoing investigations into the brutal beating of the
student, Sebastian Chinguku from Form 3A.
"We cannot at the
moment categorically say these teachers are the ones appearing in the
video clip making rounds in the social media; but we believe
interrogations will shed light on the matter," Mr Kidavashari explained.
The video clip
shows more than three heavily set men allegedly brutally beating up the
frail male student who was wearing a dark green cardigan, blue trousers
and white shirt - at one point throwing him down on the concrete floor,
heating his head in the process. One of the men, dressed in khaki
trousers, held the boy's face down with one hand and raining heavy blows
or slaps on the student's face.
The clip shows the
teachers throwing the boy down several times, heating his head on the
floor as they continued beating him, while in the background a female
voice could be heard pleading with the men to stop beating the boy as
they could badly hurt him.
The atrocity, done
by the three men described as trainee teachers from different
universities attached to the school, has prompted the Minister for Home
Affairs, Mr Mwigulu Nchemba and the Mbeya Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr
Amos Makalla, at different times yesterday to issue statement
condemning the act and directing state organs to arrest the culprits
involved.
Mr Nchemba said
police were interrogating the teachers and also recording a statement
from Sebastian in addition to ensuring that the student gets proper
medical treatment.
"I have directed
state organs in Dar es Salaam to find and arrest the culprits who
apparently have gone back to their respective universities," he
explained.
The three teachers, who beat up the Form 3 student according to the
minister, are Frank Msigwa and John Deo, both from DUCE the constituent college of the University of Dar
es Salaam (UDSM) and Sanke Gwamaka from Nyerere Memorial University
(NMU) at Kivukoni, also in Dar es Salaam.
Mr Makalla said
police in Mbeya Region are holding several teachers, including the
school's headmaster, for interrogation and getting a statement from the
student. "I want to assure the public that the police will find the
trainee teachers involved in the matter so that they face the full wrath
of the law," Mr Makalla vowed.
The Minister for
Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy
Mwalimu, condemned the corporal punishment, explaining that her ministry
did not condone such violent acts against defenceless children.
"We are not saying
that children shouldn't be punished. But what those teachers did
amounted to an act of violence against a child and not punishment as
such.
There are
regulations on caning students and on particular parts of the body," she
explained, adding that she could not herself bear to watch the entire
clip because of the cruelty involved in it.
She added that her
ministry will continue to promote and advocate safe environment in both
primary and secondary schools where pupils/ students will feel safe,
stressing that such cruelty will scare children from going to school.
Preliminary
investigations show that the altercation stemmed from unfinished
homework in English subject that had been issued by one of the trainee
teachers, Frank Msigwa.
The trainee teacher
decided to punish the students who did not complete their homework,
making them do pushups and kneeling, to which Sebastian said he could
not do because he had a bad knee.
This angered the
trainee teacher, who took the student to the staff room and with the
help of his colleagues, proceeded to brutally beat up the student.
The student has not
been seen in school since the incident, which took place on September
28. The trainee teachers also left at the same time and have also not
been seen at the school since then.
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