A minor who was allegedly defiled by her teacher in his office testified yesterday before Nakuru Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo.

The 15-year-old girl described shocking details on how the teacher allegedly made her drunk in his office before defiling her. She said the teacher defiled her again during mid-term break at a hotel in Nakuru and gave her Sh500.

“I never told my class teacher about the two incidences that happened on June 15 and June 18 last year as the teacher, Paul Gicheru, had threatened he would ensure I would get expelled if I revealed anything. Even my parents did not know about it,” she told the court.

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Paul Gicheru when he appeared before Nakuru Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo yesterday.
(PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU/STANDARD)

She, however, said she told her five friends about the defilement, including one whom Mr Gicheru allegedly changed her marks for sexual favours.

The student told the court that Gicheru, a Kiswahili teacher at Njoro Girls High School, changed the marks of her friend from C to B for sexual favours and this led to disclosure of the story. According to the student, this incident made the teacher in charge of marks raise eyebrows, reporting the case to the school principal. It was then that the teacher in charge of exams stormed the class and demanded for the examination paper of her friend.

According to her, her friend revealed the story to the school principal, who called her to confirm the sexual encounters with the teacher.

Yesterday, Gicheru was released on Sh200,000 cash bail pending hearing of the case. The move by the court to release the teacher on bond was prompted by the Government’s application to have the matter adjourned to allow further amendment of charges. The hearing of the six students evidence was cut short after the first witness finished testifying, after which State counsel Nelly Ngovi sought more time to vary dates in the charge sheet to correspond with those in the student’s statements.

Presiding over the case, Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo was agitated by the move, prompting her to reconsider bailing out Gicheru, who has been in remand since he was arrested.

“This was even my civil matters day but I had leniently allowed you two other applications to organise yourself,” noted Mulekyo, who also ruled there is need to reconsider the bond application by the teacher.

Gicheru’s lawyer Karanja Mbugua opposed the adjournment, accusing the State of indecisiveness and claims that he would be forced to go through the evidence again with the accused.

Gicheru, who has denied defiling the 15-year-old student in his office in June last year and touching private parts of the other five in separate incidences between then and June 26 year, had been remanded pending hearing of the six students’ evidence.

The shocking allegations prompted TSC to reprimand the school’s two senior administrators over negligence. The school principal and her deputy have been directed to file statements with TSC within 21 days from June 30. The hearing was adjourned to August 18.