A teacher at a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church-run primary school in Bulawayo has been convicted for hitting a Grade Three pupil against a desk resulting in the child losing a tooth and two other lower frontal teeth becoming loose after he reportedly failed to solve a Maths problem.

Sanele Khumalo (57) who was a teacher at Queen Elizabeth Adventist Primary School pleaded not guilty to assault but was convicted by Western Commonage magistrate Gladmore Mushove.

Meanwhile, Khumalo will be handed his jail package on 5 December after his lawyer pleaded with the court to give him time to pay the boy’s medical bills so that he can receive a “lighter sentence”.

According to a medical report, following the brutal attack, the pupil suffered permanent damage to his front tooth.

Khumalo was convicted after a full trial with a number of witnesses testifying, including three doctors who examined the boy roundly confirming that from their observation it was clear that considerable force was used for the tooth to break.

In her judgment, Mushove ruled that there was overwhelming evidence that the accused indeed committed the “heinous” crime.

“Looking at the flow of the evidence from the complainant to the mother and the doctors the court was satisfied that the accused indeed assaulted the complainant,” she said.

According to court papers, on 11 October 2017 and at around 8 am the boy was in class when accused who was his teacher at that time flew into a rage after he reportedly failed to solve a long division sum.

The enraged Khumalo, the court heard, severely hit the complainant’s head against the table once which resulted in him losing his tooth with the other two becoming loose.B-Metro