Grade 8 Pupil Dies After Allegedly Jumping from Roof Top of Building in Umoja
A grade eight pupil died after he allegedly jumped off from the roof top of a building in Umoja area, Nairobi.
Police said the boy’s body was found on the first floor of the building after the fall.
The school is on a seven-storey building and the incident happened on Friday March 8 evening at the Joy Gardens Primary School in Tena-Umoja, police said.
The circumstances under which the incident happened are not clear.
Police said they are investigating murder in the incident. This is after the injuries they found on the body of the boy showed the impact of the fall was not as anticipated.
“We are among others investigating murder. The injuries on the body would have been consistent with the fall given he is said to have fallen off from the roof top of the structure,” said an officer aware of the probe.
The officer said the injuries were not serious or deep and hopped postmortem on the body will reveal more on the incident.
Police said they had arrested four people at the school for interrogation as part of the probe into the incident.
The four, including two directors, the head teacher and a teacher in charge of the boarding section were arrested on Friday night after the incident happened.
Buruburu police boss Francis Kamau said they are investigating the tragedy.
“We are investigating murder for now and if other issues will emerge we will know,” he said.
Another official said an internal investigation was going on at the school and the deceased pupil had been interrogated by a teacher earlier in the day.
The official said what remains unclear is what happened between the time the interrogation ended and 7.30pm, when the deceased is said to have jumped from the rooftop of the school building.
The school is a boarding institution with tens of pupils.
Police arrived and collected the remains of the child to the mortuary pending autopsy.
The police also obtained surveillance footage for review to establish how the incident happened.
The parents of the child have demanded justice. The incident prompted some parents to visit the school to establish if their children were safe.