A Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate at Anestar Premier High School is said to be sitting for his exams in fear for his life following months of alleged bullying and threats from his colleagues leading up to the national exam.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, the distraught candidate's mother narrated how she uncovered the events after she questioned why her son was limping over the August Holidays.
Upon further inquiry, she learned that her son had been bullied and assaulted while at school by some six students just before the school closed for the holidays. She then took him to see a doctor and was treated for bodily injuries both on his chest and stomach as well as recurring headaches.
The mother recalls her son’s fright once the school reopened for their final term as the boys would be returning from suspension, stating, “he told me he was afraid of going back to school because I believed he had been given a hard beating by around 6 boys. That is a lot.”
His gut was right, as when three of the boys returned, they allegedly went on the offensive and started threatening him once again which motivated him to call his mother who in return finally notified the police at Bahati of the matter.
The three boys are said to have been arrested and their parents were called to the police station.
"They were so arrogant to the point that they were intimidating my son at the station even telling my son that their parents knew some of the officers so the case was going nowhere," the mother recalls.
The arrest according to the mother, did not seem to tame the boys. According to her, on November 3 a day before the exams started, the said boys allegedly tampered with the student's KCSE identification credentials on his desk crossing out his picture with an X mark and removing his index number.
Frustrated, the mother is said to have once again reported the matter to the Gathioro Police Station where the three boys wrote full statements while her son was not allowed to finish his.
"After following the matter so much, today (November 13) when they brought my son the half statement to finish while he's still doing his exams. I am frustrated," she stated.
A director at the school confirmed the bullying incident and stated that the case had been reported to the police. He further stated that another student who had assaulted the victim had brought a knife during the opening of the second time.
"He did not tell me he had been threatened. He did not want to pursue the case," he added.
The Nakuru County Commander Michael Mwaura refused to comment on the issue, claiming that they were waiting for the mother of the victim to file a P3 form.
"I went to Murunyu Police Station and told them and told them you have not really assisted me. Can we do something about it. The major told me that that matter is over," The mother stated.
Following the fatal stabbing of another KCSE candidate at the nearby Shiner’s Boys High School on November 6, the mother is now living in fear of her son suffering the same fate as seeking help from the police has not paid off yet.
