Five 10-year-old pupils testify how their teacher raped them

Julius Mwiti a teacher at Mugae Primary School in Buuri District when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja at Meru on March 15, 2016. He denied 10 charges of sexually assaulting pupils aged between eight and 11 years at the school on diverse dates between November, 2015 and March this year and was released on a bond of Sh1 million with a surety of a similar amount pending the hearing of his case on July 13, this year. [PHOTO: PETER MUTHOMI/Standard]

Five 10-year-old primary school pupils have narrated to a Meru court how their English teacher sexually assaulted them over a long period.

The five, who testified in-camera before Chief Magistrate Lucy Ambasi, are among 10 children whom former Mugae Primary School deputy headmaster Julius Mwiti is accused of sexually molesting between November 2015 and March this year.

The teacher has denied the multiple sexual assault charges and is out on a Sh500,000 bond.

One of the pupils told the magistrate that Mwiti asked her to pick up her classmates' books and deliver to them to the staffroom after classwork.

"He was marking the homework and had the other hand on me. I felt a lot of pain before he asked me to summon another classmate," said the pupil.

She said when she reported the matter to her female class teacher, she was advised to tell her parents and she was eventually taken to hospital and given a P3 form, which enabled her to write a police statement.

Some of the pupils told the court that the teacher abused them on Saturdays when they reported to school alongside other members of the Scouts Club.

"The teacher used to ask us to arrange books in the staffroom and would use the opportunity to molest us, using a large table to block the other classmates from seeing his evil deeds," one pupil said.

The defence counsel applied to adjourn the case, saying he was indisposed and the magistrate set the next hearing for Monday. The prosecution has lined up 15 witnesses, including parents.