Father beats children for embarrassing him

Police are looking for a man who is alleged to have physically assaulted his two children because they were "untidy" in school.

The two children, a girl and boy, who are nursing injuries, say their father accused them of being dirty and embarrassing him in school during a parents meeting last week.

The incident occurred in a school in Lower Yatta sub-county.

According to the school’s head teacher, the man was called out to explain why he allowed his children to attend school in dirty and tattered uniforms. The school administration then asked him to take his children home and ensure they were tidy before taking them back.

Furious, the father is said to have walked home with the two children, promising to teach them a lesson for "embarrassing him" before other parents.

Hands tied

According to the children, their father punished them immediately they got home. They say he tied their hands with a rope and started beating them, while their mother begged him to stop. 

The siblings said their father also admonished their mother, accusing her of causing him shame and ridicule before other parents.

Yesterday, the deputy sub-county commissioner Gerald Mutuku told The Standard he accompanied the area chief Jacob Sammy to the suspect’s home to rescue the children.

Mr Mutuku said the suspect escaped, but police were looking for him.

The two children were taken to a nearby Administration Police’s Border Patrol Unit Training College in Kanyonyoo for first aid. “This is inhuman for someone supposed to be the guardian of the children. We shall ensure the suspect is pursued, arrested and prosecuted,” said Mutuku.

The matter was booked at the Kanyonyoo police post.