Kenya arrests teachers for forcing pupils to simulate sex

Six Kenyan teachers were arrested and suspended on Thursday after a video showing primary school pupils simulating sex as a punishment went viral, causing uproar.

The footage showed four boys in school uniform simulating sexual acts under a tree in the school compound as the teachers watched.

The six are heard chatting in the background of the 29-second clip and bursting into laughter as one shirtless child wipes tears from his face.

Police said the clip exposed the pupils to "an indecent act" and was recorded in Nyamache, a rural town, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the capital Nairobi.

Six teachers -- five women and a man -- were arrested and "are assisting in (the) investigation", police said in a report seen by AFP.

"Other preferable charges" and a report would follow, it added.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) suspended the six teachers, saying the video involving six Grade Two pupils caused "trauma, psychological, mental torture and embarrassment to the minors."

"You instructed and/or coerced the learners... to engage in an indecent/inappropriate acts depicting homosexuality within the school compound," TSC's Evaleen Mitei wrote in a letter to the teachers.

The teachers, who also appeared in court, have three weeks to make a written defence against their suspension, Mitei added.

Prosecutors meanwhile sought to detain them for seven more days to complete investigations.

The incident sparked fury on social media with many calling for action in the largely conservative, Christian nation.

"This is so humiliating. Adults need to leave children alone! What even is this???" one user posted on Twitter.

"This is really the worst that could happen to these kids. Did these teachers think about the trauma they (are) giving these kids?" said another.

Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu vowed the teachers will face disciplinary action and would be dismissed if found guilty.

According to Kenya's sexual offences act, a person found guilty of compelling another to engage in an indecent act faces a jail term of not less than five years.