Police in Likoni are holding a school teacher who is suspected to have mutilated a seven-year-old pupil's genitals. Changangwa Abdallah, a teacher at Bridge International Academy, is alleged to have lured Khamis Idd to his office where he blew powder into the boy's face on Monday evening.

Khamis is reported to have walked home looking gloomy before neighbours noticed his wet shorts. His mother, Fatma Mwaiddi, said Khamis' friend, Omar, told her his son had remained in school after hours.

She later discovered his son's condition in the process of washing him but initially thought he had defecated on himself. "My son told me the teacher used a razor blade to cut his private parts. I do not understand why he did that. I had only heard in the news that such things happen," said Fatma.

But neighbours claimed Khamis was injured by the school's barbed wire fence while playing. "When asked what happened, he told us he had been pricked by hooks on the fence. He did not know he was seriously injured," said a neighbour.

They said Khamis did not tell Fatma the truth for fear of punishment. The neighbours said in the course of questioning, Changangwa's name cropped up and Fatma assumed he was involved.

Khamis was treated at a nearby health centre on Monday evening before he was transferred to Savani Clinic in Ujamaa, Likoni. Likoni police boss Abagara Guyo said Khamis was assaulted by the teacher.

Guyo and officers from Likoni station had to remove Changangwa from Inuka police station where he had been detained after some parents bayed for his blood.