Rights defenders demand speedy probe on sodomy cases at St. Aquinas School » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 14 — Human rights defenders and parents have called on police to conduct a speedy probe on the alleged sodomy cases that have occurred at Nairobi’s St. Aquinas High School amid reports of a coverup.

The appeal comes more than a week after it emerged that a Form I student at the school had been sexually assaulted before he attempted suicide.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the civil society demanded the stepping down of the Principal of St Aquinas School pending investigations on the alleged crime claiming that the school administration is trying to cover up and avoid taking responsibility over the incident.

Mary Kambo, an official form the Kenya Human Rights Commission, stated that a concerned parent called a teacher at St. Aquinas High School on February 3, to ask about the well-being of her son and send pocket money through the teacher’s phone.

She added that the parent was informed that her son had been sent away from school due to school fees balance which baffled the parent as she had fully paid school fees for her son.

“She wondered why the school did not communicate to inform her that her son had been released from school and the reason for doing so. When her son arrived at home, he was pale, sickly, and weak and looked extremely stressed,” Kambo said.

Kambo added that the victim’s parent was alarmed when the victim asked her to transfer her from the school forcing her to inquire the reason behind it.

“On enquiring whether he was okay, the son became teary and begged the parent that he be transferred to another school.  He refused to eat stating that he did not have an appetite. On further inquiry, the son amidst tears wrote on a foolscap how he was sodomised at the school,” she said.

Kambo added that on calling the School Principal over the issue, the school administrator denied the happening of such acts in the school but would not explain why he had sent the son home.

“Shortly after, the principal sent messages to parents indicating that this information that was doing rounds on social media was untrue and a rumor,” they added.

The rights defenders further said that no steps have been taken by the school to investigate the issue and no action taken against the culprit who sodomised the victim.

They claimed that other students from St. Aquinas have confided in their parents that sodomy has occurred more than once within the school premises.

“We are concerned that minors are being subjected to such kind of humiliation, shame and pain that may affect them for the rest of their lives,” they said.

They also urged the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (ODPP) to institute proceedings to prosecute the perpetrators involved in the crime in accordance with the law.

They further condemned the Police over what they termed unlawful arrest of parents on February 8 who had taken to the streets to express their anger and displeasure about the incident.

Rosemary Kinuthia, Director African Boychild Network, said the incident was saddening pointing out that Sodomy cases continue to happen in many schools across the country.

She added that it was the role of all the stakeholders to protect the victims from such violations.

“We need to realize that sodomy is not just in Aquinas, it has been happening, it happened in Alliance Boys in 2017 and the principal then quit. We need to stop this,” she said.

“There are a lot of issues that has been happening in our schools and we need to realize treat as parents and stakeholders in the Education Ministry that the lives of our children is more important than the image we are trying to protect of the ministry, school or principal,” Kinuthia added.

Kenya Human Rights Commission, Article 19, Independent Medical Legal Unit, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, The National Coalition of Human Rights Defender were present at the event.