Teacher tells court he reported marks on Stylianos Constantinou’s body to headmaster

Nicosia, Cyprus. Stylianos Constantinou’s third-grade teacher told the Nicosia district court on Wednesday that he had alerted the headmaster to marks on the child’s body that the boy attributed to his father. The trial is examining whether negligence by his family or state services contributed to Stylianos’s death by suicide at 14.

Marks noticed after complaint of pain

The teacher said the incident happened while Stylianos was in second grade. After the boy reported back pain in class, the school matron and speech therapist summoned the teacher to look at the marks.

According to the witness, the marks suggested the child had been beaten, and Stylianos said his father had caused them.

The teacher explained that he was obliged to notify someone on the school’s violence prevention team, of which the headmaster was a member. Prosecutors referred to a manual issued by the education ministry requiring school personnel to report cases in which they are told that a child is suffering domestic violence.

Earlier testimony on the child’s circumstances

During Monday’s hearing, the teacher had portrayed Stylianos as gentle, saying he kept food provided at school for his siblings and likening him to “a saintly recluse”.

He also said the boy came to school in soiled clothing and with an offensive smell, and that staff sought to help him.

Defence questions differences in testimony

The defence questioned the teacher about statements in his main testimony that had not appeared in his 2020 evidence. He explained that he had given that earlier testimony without preparation and while emotionally affected.

Asked about ending Stylianos’s school escort, the witness said the decision had been taken collectively, although he had expressed reservations.