A Tanzanian educator was sentenced to death in 2019 for fatally assaulting a 14-year-old student in August 2018, court records show.
Respicius Patrick Mutazangira, 51, received the death penalty after being convicted of murdering Sperius Eradius at a school in Bukoba. The boy died from neurogenic shock—typically caused by severe head or spinal trauma—following a three-hour beating with firewood, the trial heard.
A second teacher, Helieth Gerald, was cleared of involvement in the incident. The court determined Mutazangira violated Tanzania's ban on corporal punishment by initiating the attack, which it described as premeditated.
A judge stated during sentencing: "Clearly, there was no other killer, but Mutazangira." The educator collapsed upon hearing the verdict and was removed from the courtroom by guards. No appeal decision has been announced.
Tanzania's legal system permits capital punishment, though no executions have occurred since 1994.
