NAIROBI Kenya July 27 -A Nairobi primary school teacher who punched a pupil on the head leading to his death 7 weeks later was on Thursday July 27 charged with manslaughter.
Lawrence Muthini Kasivi, a teacher at Wangu primary school is said to have hit Emmanuel Muiruri on May 17 after the previous day he mistakenly went home with a classmate’s school bag as they looked a like.
That fateful day, he returned the bag to school after realizing he had picked the wrong bag but his class teacher the teacher attacked him.
He fell down and became unconscious.
The minor’s parents were informed by Kasivi’s workmate that their child was very sick and that they were needed in the school where they found their son unconscious and took him to a nearby dispensary in company of teachers and the deceased’s classmates.
The doctors at the dispensary referred them to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital (MLKH) in Embakasi where he was treated and discharged two days later.
The doctors referred him to Kenyatta National Hospital and the Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital where he had been visiting but with little improvement.
His health kept on deteriorating and he later developed complications while at home and they rushed him to hospital where he succumbed on July 3.
Although the matter had been reported to police on May 20, the minor had not recorded a statement with investigators.
He had however informed his parents and doctors of what had transpired.
Among the witnesses in the case are a teacher at the school, three pupils who are classmates of the deceased and who witnessed the assault, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy and several health workers who attended to the deceased.
Postmortem examination later established that Muriuki’s death was a remote traumatic brain injury.
The investigations were concluded and the file forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The ODPP upon perusal of the file recommended that the teacher be charged with manslaughter contrary to section 202 as read with section 205 of the Penal Code.
The suspect was on Thursday arraigned before Chief magistrate Francis Kyambia where he denied the charges. He was released on a bond of Sh100, 000 with an alternative cash bail of a similar amount.
The case will be mentioned on September 28 before trial begins on January 15 next year.
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