A court has ordered payment of Kshs4 million as compensation to a primary school student following a punishment incident.
The student who now goes to a private school was caned by two teachers from his former school over an alleged indiscipline case.
The court found that the student’s rights were infringed during the punishment.
Justice James Makau noted that the student sustained physical injuries which demonstrated that his rights were violated.
“Upon consideration of the pleadings, submissions and relevant laws, and exhibits produced in support of the petition and noting the injuries suffered by the minor, I am satisfied that the petitioners have demonstrated and proved the minor’s rights were violated by the respondents. The petitioner (student) is entitled to an award of damages of Ksh4 million,” the judge ruled.
The court also awarded parents of the student Kshs200,000 for the trouble they went through in finding a new school for their child and the helping him heal from the trauma.
“The petitioners are awarded Ksh200,000 for the violation of their rights to be paid by the respondent jointly and respectively,” Justice Makau ruled.
The petition was filed in March 2021 after the student returned home looking unhappy and dull. He informed his parents that he had been subjected to corporal punishment at school without being told why he was punished.
The parents reported the matter at Soweto police station but no action was taken forcing them to head to a constitutional court.
The court was told that the minor declined to go back to school due to the traumatizing incident and out of fear of being eliminated.
He also suffered mental torture after the school declined to provide him with a letter of transfer.
The petitioners described the scenario as violence, cruelty, torture, inhumane treatment, and degrading the student.
The school however argued that the teachers were instilling discipline in the student and that the boy’s parents had withdrawn the complaint at the police station.
RELATED STORY: Gititu Mixed Students Engage In Alcohol And S3x A Day After Road Accident
