Kenya: Six teachers facing prosecution for forcing pupils to simulate sex

Six teachers in Kenya are being investigated after a video showed them forcing primary school students to simulate sex as punishment. According to Africanews, the teachers, made up of five women and a man, were arrested and suspended on Thursday. 

The video of the incident reportedly went viral on social media and sparked outrage in the East African nation. The incident is said to have occurred on the school’s premises. In the video, four uniformed male pupils are seen imitating sex acts under a tree while the teachers observe. The teachers are also heard talking and laughing as one of the students dries his eyes.

In a report, police said the teachers have since been apprehended and are “assisting in the investigation”, adding that the incident happened in the town of Nyamache. Authorities also said charges will be brought against the teachers.

The East African nation’s Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) also announced it had placed the six teachers on suspension. The TSC added that the video of the incident brought “shame, trauma, mental and psychological torture” upon the six students.

“You ordered and/or coerced students (…) to engage in indecent/inappropriate acts representing homosexuality within the school,” TSC official Evaleen Mitei told the teachers in a letter.

The teachers, who remain detained, have been given three weeks to appeal their suspension. It is also expected that they’ll remain in custody for seven more days as authorities wrap up the investigation, Africanews reported. 

Responding to the incident, Kenya’s Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu said disciplinary proceedings against the teachers are going to be opened, adding that they’ll be relieved of their duties if they’re found guilty.

Per the country’s Sexual Offences Act, an individual found guilty of coercing someone to participate in an indecent act can be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison.