A family in Kenya has won a case against their daughter's former primary school following a tragic accident that left her with scars nine years later.
According to a report by Daily Nation on Sunday, May 24, the High Court ordered Loreto Msongari to pay the former pupil, Madikizela Otieno, Ksh29 million for the accident that occurred in 2011 during a school trip.
In her ruling, Justice Lucy Njuguna awarded the compensation to the student to cover her past and future medical expenses noting that she would have to live with the scars inflicted on her by the accident.
"This court has considered the injuries sustained by the plaintiff which are grievous in nature, the effect of which she has to live with for the rest of her life," stated the judge.
In her testimony, Otieno disclosed that she had been dropped to the institution by her mother in readiness for the trip for Standard Seven and Standard Eight pupils.
The trouble began when the headmistress reportedly insisted that the students would use one bus which resulted in congestion with some students sitting on their colleagues' laps.
The student only recalled hearing the bus screech before she found herself bandaged in the hospital after the accident that occurred at the Subuiga slope along the Nanyuki-Meru Highway.
She was admitted to Nairobi Hospital where she spent 22 days before being transferred to Bupa Cornwell Hospital in London.
Her doctor confirmed that she had suffered life-threatening injuries and would be needing corrective surgeries in the future.
Otieno had sued the headmistress and the driver of the bus the day the accident happened. The accident took the lives of three pupils while 69 others sustained injuries.
In the ruling, Justice Njuguna noted that the former pupil was an innocent passenger and had no control over how the bus was being driven and so she was entitled to the compensation which would be paid with interest in case the school delayed the payment.
