10-year-old boy seeking justice after allegedly being assaulted by school bus driver

Thursday January 7, 2021 is a day that started like any other day for one Nairobi mother and her 10-year-old son who goes to Westgate Shield Group of Schools.

But all that changed when the boy returned home later that evening badly injured, in pain and extremely terrified.

The mother has narrated to the Nation how that evening her son, a grade four pupil, returned home crying. Upon enquiring, she noticed blood oozing from her son’s mouth.

“I asked him to tell me what had happened and he told me that the driver of their school bus had slapped him,” the mother told the Nation in an exclusive interview.

Upon closer scrutiny, the mother was shocked by a disturbing discovery. What she initially thought was a minor injury turned out to be a serious one.

Apparently, two of her son’s teeth were bleeding and his upper jaw swollen.

“I immediately called the school to find out what had transpired, but I was told to wait for the driver to finish his evening trips,” she told the Nation.

According to the young boy, he was playing with his classmates as they waited for the school bus to drop them home when the bus driver, for no apparent reason, slapped him.

“We were just playing as we waited for the bus to take us home when the driver slapped me. He also slapped my friend. When we reached the bus, my friend told me I had blood on my mouth,” he told the Nation.

After waiting for more than two hours without response from the school, and seeing that her son was in pain, the mother decided to take the boy to the hospital.

Extracted teeth

She first went to a health centre in Muthiga, Westlands. But after she narrated the incident, she was asked to first report the matter to the police.

She reported the matter to Kinoo Police Post (OB number 11/07/01/2021) and was given a P3 form. She was also advised on the medical facility she should visit.

“I was sent to Premier Medical Centre in Westlands where the P3 form was filled after the doctor examined my son,” she says.

A medical report from Premier Medical Centre seen by the Nation indicates the boy had two of his teeth extracted under local anesthesia and he was discharged with a dosage of antibiotics.

Since it was already late when they left the hospital, the mother says she only managed to return the P3 form to the police station the following morning.

But it was one week later that the said driver who allegedly assaulted her son was arrested. The driver, Kelvin Kariuki Gathii, who it turns out is the son of the school owner, was initially supposed to be arraigned before Kikuyu Law Court last Friday.

However, when the Nation team arrived at the court, the suspect was not there as early communicated. It later emerged that the suspect had been released on the same day of his arrest (January 14, 2021) on a cash bail of Sh5,000.

According to the criminal case 214/2021, Mr Kariuki is facing charges of causing grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 234 of the penal code. Section 234 of Penal Code provides a life imprisonment for the offence.

But things have since taken a strange twist that is likely to delay or even deny the mother and her son justice. 

According to the prosecutor, the P3 form that was presented with Kariuki’s file was filled at a private health facility instead of a government health facility.

School transfer

Sources at Kinoo Police Post told the Nation that the doctor at the private hospital has been filling P3 forms that have been used in different courts of law in Nairobi.

Speaking to Nation, Dr George Kungu confirmed that he has in the past filled P3 forms that have been used in court.

“I have even been called to testify and give my professional testimony based on the P3 forms I issue. This particular P3 form is not the first one that has been used to press for charges in assault cases,” Dr Kungu told the Nation.

But that is not the only challenge that the mother is facing in her quest for justice.

She claims the school is now frustrating her efforts to transfer her son to another school by withholding her son’s Unique Personal Identification (UPI) number.

“My son cannot go back to that school because he is traumatised. I have asked the school to provide the UPI number but the director has refused to issue it. My son is now missing lessons. This is very unfair,” she lamented.

When the Nation reached the school for comment, the school director, Mr Peter Reuben, directed us to Kikuyu Police Station where the case is being handled.

However, Kikuyu Police Station OCS Ronald Kimanzi said the mother and her son will have to fill another P3 form in a public health facility and return it to Kinoo Police Station.

"The file was returned by the prosecutor because the P3 form was filled at a private hospital instead of government facility. The mother of her son was advised to take another P3 form to a public health facility and return it to Kinoo Police Station where the case was first reported," Kimanzi told the Nation on Sunday.