A teacher in Nyamira County has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly caning a nine-year-old pupil 104 times.
Jackson Mobisa Marucha, a teacher is said to have used a plastic pipe to administer the severe punishment in March 2023.
Investigating officers had recommended the suspect be charged with assault but upon further review, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) preferred the attempted murder charges.
The excessive caning resulted in severe injuries to the child's buttocks, necessitating immediate medical attention.
The prosecution revealed distressing details about the pupil's condition. The court heard that the pupil sustained a haematoma, a dangerous accumulation of clotted blood within his tissues.
This condition, according to a prosecution witness, could have had fatal consequences if the blood clots had moved to vital organs of the body.
"If the blood clots would have travelled to the vein, it could have dislodged in the heart," the witness testified.
The teacher reportedly flogged the pupil after he reported that his school uniforms had been stolen from a clothesline.
The suspect is said to have attempted to conceal the heinous act by keeping the boy locked away in a dorm and denying him medical attention after realising how severe his injuries were.
The incident only came to light after the boy's classmates informed the minor's uncle, who had gone to visit him in school, of his predicament.
The boy's uncle was reportedly barred from seeing him by the school administration prior to the revelation by the minor's classmates.
The school's head teacher Isabella Kumenda and four of her subordinates were questioned by detectives.
Kumenda claimed to have been away from the school when the incident occurred.