Parents and guardians from the sprawling Daraja Mbili slums in Kisii town, Kisii County have been warned against abusing vulnerable children and orphans under their care.
Daraja Mbili Primary School teacher Robert Ohanga has decried rampant cases of child abuse going unreported in the slum, warning parents and guardians meting corporal punishment on the vulnerable children that they will face the law for violating children’s rights.
Speaking to this writer in Kisii town, Ohanga lamented that there were a lot of child abuse cases in the slums, as majority of the victims suffered in silence for fear of reporting perpetrators to the relevant authorities as they were their only breadwinners.
“There are worrying cases of child abuse going unreported in the Daraja Mbili slum, with guardians and parents subjecting orphans under their care to various abuse incidents under the guise of disciplining them,” stated Ohanga.
Ohanga challenged parents and guardians to respect the vulnerable and orphaned children's rights, by providing them with basic necessities and moral guidance as opposed to subjecting them to sever corporal punishments.
The teacher observed that subjecting children to corporal punishments exposed them to low self esteem and psychological torture, leading to poor concentration in school.