Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
A teacher at St Anne’s Primary School in Harare yesterday appeared in court facing charges of culpable homicide following the drowning of a three-year-old pupil in the school swimming pool.
Martha Karota Rice, an Early Childhood Development (ECD) teacher, stood before Harare regional magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa who remanded her in custody until today, pending a bail application.
According to the State, Rice was in charge of eight learners from her ECD A and B classes at the time of the incident.
It is alleged that at around 11:30 am, the teacher left seven of the pupils unattended while she entered the school building.
She also allegedly left the gate to the swimming pool unlocked.
Tragically, one of the unattended pupils, a three-year-old child, wandered into the swimming pool area and drowned.
The court heard that Rice was the one who retrieved the child from the water after the incident.
She sought help from others nearby before the matter was reported to the police, leading to her arrest.
