Teacher nabbed for brutal student assault

A PRIVATE college teacher in Harare was yesterday arrested after a video of him brutally assaulting an 18-year-old student went viral.

Police confirmed the arrest of the Harare Einstein Tuition Centre Maths teacher, Michael Freeman Chingwaru, who was caught on camera in a fit of rage assaulting a hapless student using fists, a belt and open palms.

The teacher was widely condemned for his behaviour shown in the over one-minute-long video, where he was attacking the student while his peers were pleading with him to stop the attack.

In the video, the student did not fight back, but could only complain that Chingwaru was hurting him while he stood in a corner, defying orders for him to sit.

“The ZRP confirms the arrest of Michael Freeman Chingwaru (39), a Maths teacher at Harare Einstein Tuition centre for assaulting a student (18) at the same institution,” police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.

“The Lower Sixth student was found in the ordinary level class watching some movies during lesson time and ordered to go to his class. Instead, he went to a Biology classroom and coincidentally met the same teacher, where a harsh exchange of words occurred, resulting in the teacher assaulting the complainant.”

Nyathi said school authorities should ensure that peace prevails in learning institutions at all times.

Corporal punishment is outlawed in Zimbabwe and teachers are forbidden from physically attacking students as punishment for any wrong doing.

There was speculation as to the reason why Chingwaru assaulted the student, with some claiming he had found the student in an uncompromising position with a female student, believed to be his relative.

This was after Chingwaru posted a picture of a boy, with a girl in a compromising position, claiming that was the reason for the attack on the pupil.

Another video of Chingwaru has emerged with him violently confronting a Zesa Holdings employee at the school before he was restrained.

It could not be immediately established when the video was taken, but he exhibited the same violent conduct and anger as shown in his attack on the teenage student at the school.

School authorities could not immediately comment on the incident, with the Primary and Secondary Education ministry saying investigations on the matter were underway. He is expected to appear in court soon.