Teacher injures girl, risks law suit

A private primary school teacher in Blantyre risks being dragged to court for unleashing the abolished corporal punishment on a little girl, leading to her admission to hospital.

The eight-year-old girl, Pemphero Kachepa, in the company of her father, said in an interview on Thursday that she was whipped in the palm with a hose pipe by the teacher at the  school in Blantyre’s Mbayani Township.

Pemphero, who claimed three other girls were also whipped, said the teacher accused her of playing with boys.

The father, Jailosi Kachepa, said the incident happened on June 21 2012, but they did not know what happened to her until two days later when her palm started getting darker and swelling.

Said Kachepa: “We took her to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) on June 25. We were advised she needed to be admitted for an operation.”

The father complained to Civil Liberties Committee (Cilic) and the organisation’s chairperson Innocent Banda on Sunday said they were dragging the teacher to court after police failed to take any action.

Blantyre Police Station spokesperson Yona Thembachako confirmed the matter was reported to Mbayani Police Unit and a file was opened. He said he needed more time to find out the current position of the case.