Six Kenyan teachers were arrested and suspended on Thursday after a video showing primary school students pretending to have sex as punishment went viral and caused an uproar.
The footage showed four boys in school uniforms simulating sexual acts under a tree on school grounds while teachers looked on.
The six can be heard talking in the background of the 29-second clip and bursting out laughing as a shirtless kid wipes tears from his face.
Police said the video exposed the students to an “indecent act” and was taken in the rural town of Nyamache, 300 kilometers from the capital Nairobi.
Police said in an AFP report that six teachers — five women and one man — have been arrested and are assisting [with the investigation].”
The Teachers’ Service Commission suspended the six teachers, saying the video, which showed six second grade students, caused “shock, psychological and mental torture and embarrassment to minors”.
“You directed and/or coerced students to engage in indecent/inappropriate acts that constitute homosexuality within the school complex,” TSC’s Evaline Mitei wrote in a letter to the teachers.
Also, read; Seychelles Ranked Africa’s Least Corrupt Country Of 2022
Mitei added that the teachers, who also appeared in court, had three weeks to file a written defense against the suspension.
The incident sparked outrage on social media, with many calling for action in the largely conservative Christian country.
“It’s so insulting. Adults must leave children alone! What is this???” one user posted on Twitter.
“It really is the worst thing that can happen to these children. Have these teachers ever thought about the trauma they are inflicting on these children?” said another.
Education Secretary Ezekiel Machugo promised teachers would face disciplinary action and be fired if found guilty.
Under Kenya’s Sex Offenses Act, a person found guilty of forcing another person to commit an indecent act faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison.
