ONGWEDIVA – The mother of a grade five learner at the !Oe#gab Primary School in Erongo has opened a case against a teacher who is alleged to have assaulted a learner leaving him with a fractured arm.
The school is situated 50km from Usakos into the surrounding farms.
The 13-year-old Johannes Kakunde reportedly shattered a window whilst playing with other learners in the dormitories.
As punishment, the teacher requested Kakunde to remove his sweater and lie on the bed and started whipping him with a plastic whip.
After one beating, Kakunde allegedly sprung up and ran and the teacher with the assistance of a cook at the school pursued him.
“When they apparently caught him, the teacher kicked him by the ankles and he fell to the floor fracturing his arm,” the child’s aunt Saima Hambuda narrated
Hambuda said the two left Kakunde crying on the floor and left for their dormitories.
Another teacher after Kakunde had cried for a while came to inspect and assisted the boy and without knowing what transpired left the boys to sleep.
A case of assault has been registered with the police at Oshikango Region, Public Relations Officer in Ohangwena Kaume Iitumba has confirmed.
Iitumba said the case is in transit to Erongo where the alleged crime was committed.
“The principal at the school was supposed to have opened the case on behalf of the parent or the guardian and since it did not happen, the parents cannot travel to Usakos to open a case,” Iitumba related.
Kakunde was allegedly only taken to the hospital after lunch on Saturday despite having a clinic in the same vicinity.
“They didn’t even inform the parents what had transpired and now claim the child came from the holiday with a fractured arm, which is not true,” Hambuda said further.
When the mother went to collect Kakunde from the school, she was shocked the teacher gave a false report at the hospital where the boy was treated.
“The teacher claims the child fell from the bed when she took him to the hospital. Even the police was not aware even though there is a police station just a few metres away,” Hambuda said.
Kakunde is currently in the care of the parents while he is receiving treatment.
Efforts to get hold of the principal at the school proved futile as New Era was informed the principal was not at the school at the time of enquiry. In Kavango West, a school teacher who is infamous for being short tempered a few months ago broke a parent’s jaw and no action seems to have been taken against the suspect.