This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
On September 20, 2019, a 14-year-old girl's tragic death in Bomet shocked the nation. The incident sparked outrage over period shame and its devastating consequences.
According to a preliminary report by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kabiangek Primary School, where the girl was a pupil, had a stock of 77 packets of sanitary towels. The report revealed that the school had been supplied with its full consignment of sanitary towels for the school-going period, indicating that the school was in good standing to prevent unfortunate instances of young girls missing pads.
It is alleged that the female pupils had been supplied with 2 packets of sanitary towels each, while the rest remained in stock for future use. The report detailed that the late Jackline Kipngeno had one of the packets of pads given to her at the time of her death.
Further, the report outlined that the teacher at the center of the heinous shaming, Jennifer Chemutai, was not directly responsible for the child's suicide. A section of the report quotes the teacher's side of the story, saying she politely talked to the girl and went out of her way to get her sanitary towels from the staff-room.
The teacher reportedly denied shaming the student for staining her clothes and alleged that she did not send the girl home as had been reported by the girl's family.
