Twenty-one pupils at a Fransfontein school in the Kunene region were allegedly assaulted by the police over a football debate on Sunday.
The Frans Frederick Combined School pupils, whose identities cannot be revealed as they are underage, yesterday told The Namibian that their teachers assumed they were fighting and took them to the police station, where they were allegedly beaten with a hosepipe.
The incident happened on Sunday at about 20h00. The boys were allegedly taken to the hospital at about 07h00 yesterday morning.
They told The Namibian they were beaten all over their buttocks, hands, thighs, stomachs and backs.
School board member Florencia Shimbike yesterday said following the incident, some parents are still deciding whether to take their children back to the school as they fear the teachers will beat them.
She said the children were told they would be beaten if they did not cut their hair.
“We are scared. The parents are asking that until the case is handled, the teachers should be removed from the school,” she said.
Kunene regional commander Eric Clay yesterday said he has heard about the incident, but it has not been brought to his office yet. Clay said he would follow up on the incident.
The pupils say they were only discussing football and were not fighting.
“We were only debating, and then a teacher and supervisor came. The pupils started running into their rooms thinking maybe it’s late. Later on, the principal called the police on us,” one of the boys said yesterday.
Another boy said two boys were arguing about which football team was the best.
“Others then went to assist before they took us to the station without asking us what happened. They said we wanted to kill each other, but it is not true,” the pupil said.
The Namibian poke to one of the pupils who allegedly started the debate. The pupil said all they did was talk.
“We were not fighting, we only had a small argument,” the pupil said.
They claim when they came back from the police station, the teachers, including the principal, were laughing and mocking them.
The pupils then allegedly took one of the teachers’ phones, took pictures of where they were beaten and called their parents.
“We decided to do that because we felt mocked. They asked us how the beating was and whether it was fun. Our parents were very angry,” the pupils said.
They said when parents arrived at the school at about 02h00, they were not allowed inside the school and had to sleep outside until morning.
When The Namibian spoke to the pupils yesterday, they were still at the Khorixas District Hospital.
They claimed they were beaten with a hosepipe, a car’s fan belt, police belts and by hand.
Hostel superintendent Vivian Gam-Goases yesterday confirmed the assault.
She said she did not know why the principal called the police.
“When they came back, they came with marks on their bodies, saying they were harassed by police officers,” she said.
School principal Kangombe Muharukua yesterday said he was not aware of the children being beaten by the police, saying the accusations are false.
“I did not call the police to come assault the pupils,” he said.
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