'Why did you send me into the hands of a rapist?' student asks school

A secondary school student in Kuria is seeking justice after her school sent her home landing her into the hands of a rapist and a kidnapper for nine days.

On September 7, Veronica (not real name), a Form Two student at Nyaroha Girls Secondary School, was defiled on her way home, after she was sent away from school under unclear circumstances. She had allegedly been found with someone else’s skirt after which the school deputy principal sent her home.

“The deputy humiliated me, called me a thief before sending me home to come with my parent and three skirts to replace the one I ‘stole’,” says Veronica.

Veronica says she was ejected out of the school in a games kit only.

“I was never allowed to change into school uniform and was also denied the chance to call my parents to inform them that I was on the way home,” says a disheartened Veronica.

She told The Standard on Saturday that the area usually has no means of transport during the weekends and so she was forced to walk a long distance before she could get means to go home.

ENDLESS PAIN

Tired and hungry, she came across a boda boda man, who accepted to carry her at an agreed fare, to a point where she could get means to reach home, a move she regrets.

“I wanted to reach the bus stop early enough, I feared that dusk was approaching. The boda boda man suggested the Tanzania route in order to refuel the bike. It was then that he sexually assaulted me, took all my money and left me helpless,” she says amid tears.

However, she admits that she was indeed in possession of a skirt that did not belong to her but was not stolen as alleged.

“I had helped a fellow student with a skirt and when she returned it, I did not know that it was not mine. I was never given a chance to explain what transpired before I got the skirt,” explains Veronica.

Her mother, Millicent Magak, a peasant farmer, says her daughter went through a nightmare before they traced her in Sirare town after nine days.

“My daughter went through so much pain from the time she was sent away from school till she reached home. She fell into the hands of a Good Samaritan who hosted her for a night after she was defiled,” says the mother.

SAMARITAN FROM HELL?

Veronica walked for almost 20km from the point where she was defiled to where she would get means to travel home.

“On reaching Sirare town, she requested a matatu operator to help her reach home, a plea that was never granted,” adds the mother.

The family learnt that their daughter was missing when they learnt that she attempted to call her aunt, Peres Awuor.

“I found several missed calls and a message telling me the ‘I am lost, I was sent away from school and have not reached home’ which struck me, and I informed the parents for immediate action,” says Peres.

In the process of looking for a means of transport, Veronica lost conscience only to find herself locked up in a strange house.

“She woke up in a house, where she was locked up by a couple who tortured her mercilessly. They gave her food once in a day with no water,” says the mother.

She explains further, “For seven days, my daughter never drank water. They would beat her and threaten to kill her if she shouted for help.”

‘The Standard on Saturday’ team visited the school to establish what transpired, but the deputy principal vanished as the principal was whisked away.

The school’s senior teacher, Aggrey Lusilwa, ordered the team out of the school and incited students against the journalists.

Efforts to get the administration’s side of the story were met with resistance from the administration.

Kuria East District Education Officer Benjamin Mauko, condemned the incident saying the move by the school to incite the students was not permissible.

“The school went against the law to send a student out on a weekend, and they should have used a reconciliatory tone when the parents came to seek answers. Inciting the students to throw the media and the parents out was uncalled for,” he said.

Kuria East Children’s officer Esther Moguche, has, however, called on education officers to investigate the matter.

“A girl should not be  sent home on a weekend without informing the parents. The education officers should investigate this matter immediately,” notes Moguche.

The National Co-ordinator for Elimu Yetu Coalition- an education advocacy group - Janet Muthoni-Ouko, has promised to seek the ministry’s intervention.

“I will personally call Prof Kaimenyi. We can’t condone such inhuman acts,” said Muthoni-Ouko.