Witnesses backtrack on Student’s death

The mystery surrounding the death of a Form Four student at Consolata School in Westlands deepened after both the school’s management and key witnesses recanted their statements. Austin Jack Dianga 17, was allegedly pushed by his fellow student and fell down from the first floor on Tuesday. He was taken to MP Shah Hospital where he died two days later.

The boy’s mother, Ms Ruth Dianga, said that she received a call from the class teacher informing her that her son had been injured after he was pushed by a fellow student.

“I had left for Kitengela. I requested my sister to go to the hospital where my son was being treated. My husband later joined her. They asked me to go to the hospital as his condition was critical,” she said.

Before Austin’s death, the deputy principal, a laboratory technician, the class teacher and two students had said he had been pushed.

However, after the boy died, the school and witnesses recanted their statements and maintained that they found the deceased unconscious after falling from the first floor.

“The story changed after my son died. I am the one who was trying to call the teachers to found out what happened,” said Ms Diang’a.
Kilimani police boss Peter Kattam said yesterday the initial report indicated the student was pushed by another student.

“We are investigating the matter. No one has been arrested,” he said.

Preliminary investigations have shown that the students were from a Chemistry lesson around 3.30pm on Tuesday last week, when Austin quarrelled with another student who pushed him. Witnesses said after being pushed, the attacker followed Austin and kicked him on the head.
A postmortem was done on Saturday by a team of three doctors headed by pathologist Johansen Oduor.

The cause of death was established to be a fractured skull that led to internal bleeding. The deceased was found with injuries on the left eye and on his hand. “There was a lot of traffic and I arrived at the hospital around 8pm. I found my son unconscious in the ICU. We never heard from him about what happened.

“The story has changed several times. The most disturbing thing is that we do not understand how he fell,” said Ms Dianga.

The incident was reported at Kileleshwa Police Station on July 9. Police say the school’s management is not cooperative.

The boy’s father, Mr Louis Dianga, said as soon as he received the information, he rushed to the hospital.

“I found my son unconscious. The doctor informed me that they had done a CT scan that showed a fracture on the skull and internal bleeding,” he said.

Reference : www.nation.co.ke