Caleb Mwangi was given a severe beating at his school in Kenya because he took more food during breakfast. As a result, he was put into a coma and had to spend 11 days in a special hospital unit for critical care.
When I arrived, he was unable to get out of bed. “He was unable to talk,” said Fred Mwangi, his father, in an interview with the BBC.
This happened almost two years ago when Caleb was 13 years old. Right now, he is sitting on the sofa in his home in Mombasa, a city on Kenya’s coast, with his mom and dad. He mentions that he sometimes spaces out or loses focus.
The young person feels really angry and sometimes hits the wall. He says that the trauma of almost dying has an impact on a person.
Mr Mwangi asked his son to lift his shirt and show a big, angry scar that covers almost his whole back.
He says his wounds were very bad, so the surgeon had to take big pieces of skin from his thighs to cover them up.
“This is him at the hospital,” says his mom Agnes Mutiri, showing pictures of Caleb on her phone. The pictures are too explicit to share. ” He is lying on the bed with wounds on his legs, back, arms, and face. There were almost 100 in all.
In Kenya, corporal punishment has been used in schools for a long time. It started when missionaries and colonizers used it to show that they were in charge.
In 2001, the government of Kenya made a rule that says schools cannot do it, but it has been more difficult to change how people think.
The latest Violence Against Children report, which surveyed households in Kenya in 2019, found that over half of young adults aged 18 to 24 agreed that teachers should be allowed to physically punish students.
BBC Africa Eye has found out that there is a concerning rise in the amount of serious cases being reported.
Caleb said that Nancy Gachewa, who is the director of a school in Bamburi near Mombasa, was the person who hurt him first and told other students to do the same. Gachewa says that she wasn’t at the school when it happened and she denies it.
“I was very hungry, so I ate five chapatis with tea,” Caleb explains.
Ms Gachewa and another student, Idd Salim, were taken by the police and accused of hurting someone and causing serious physical harm. Last year, Salim was given a punishment of four years in jail. As part of a deal, he has given evidence against Ms Gachewa in court.
Caleb’s situation is really terrible, but it is not something that only happens to him. A person working at the Teachers Service Commission in Kenya talked to BBC Africa Eye without revealing their identity.
They said that in the past three years, the number of severe school beatings that have been reported has increased more than fourfold, going from seven to 29. Many incidents are not told to anyone.
This situation is getting worse and we think it is getting harder to control now. Children getting hurt and losing body parts. They said that some of these situations have caused very serious outcomes, including death.
According to the source, when cases of school beatings are reported to the TSC at the county level, they often do not progress. The source also mentioned that these incidents are “covered up” and never become known to the public.
Many times, when the case comes to us, a lot of evidence has been damaged or destroyed. Sometimes, we are unable to contact the witnesses.
Most people can’t imagine that a student could die because of teachers or other school staff who should keep them safe. But in the last five years, the media has reported over 20 deaths that were connected to beatings at schools.
They said that in the last three years, the number of reports of the most severe school beatings has increased by more than four times – from seven reports to 29 reports. Many times, people do not tell anyone about things that happen to them.
The situation is getting very serious and we think it is getting harder to control now. Children getting hurt and disabled. “Some of these situations have led to very serious outcomes, including death,” they explained.
The person who shared this information said that when incidents of school beatings are reported to the TSC at the county level, they usually don’t get addressed further. They mentioned that these incidents are often hidden or ignored.
Many times, when we receive a case, a lot of the evidence has been spoiled or damaged. Sometimes we can’t even contact the witnesses.
BBC Africa Eye reached out to the TSC to answer these claims, but the TSC did not respond.
The idea of a student dying because of teachers who are supposed to keep them safe is hard to believe for many people. However, in the past five years, the media has reported over 20 deaths caused by beatings in schools.
In January of last year, Elizabeth Wairimu Gatimu, who used to be the assistant head of Ebbie’s school, was taken into custody by the police for committing a murder. She says she didn’t do what they’re accusing her of.
“I will do whatever it takes for as long as I’m alive to make sure my child gets the justice they deserve,” Mrs. Samuels She is still waiting to find out what will happen in the case.
I said to myself: ‘I won’t let anyone quiet me down. I will not stay silent. I won’t stop fighting. It might be the day I give up when I sleep peacefully like my daughter. But as long as I am alive, I will not quit.
BBC Africa Eye asked to talk to the Kenyan Ministry of Education, but no one was willing to say anything.
One group working for change is Beacon Teachers Africa. Started in Kenya four years ago by the Plan International, a non-governmental organization, along with the TSC, its purpose is to allow teachers to keep children safe in schools and their communities.
It currently has a group of 50,000 teachers in 47 countries in Africa.
Robert Omwa is a teacher in Kenya. There are 3,000 teachers like him working for Beacon. In addition to teaching children about their rights, he also runs workshops to teach teachers how to discipline students without physical punishment.
“At first, I didn’t believe it. ” I used to believe that it was a common belief in the Western world that African children should be punished by beating them. However, when I gave it a go, I felt a sense of comfort and relief, like a teacher. I felt less heavy or burdened. He said that the children were starting to like him more.
In Mombasa, Caleb and his family are waiting to find out what will happen to his school director. Ms Gachewa says she did not do the crime.
The 15-year-old still struggles to understand and deal with what happened to him.
“I want this woman to go to prison so that I can get the fairness I deserve. “