A 10-year-old boy from Ever Shine English School in Kalidasa Layout Circle, South Bengaluru, got slapped by his teacher for not doing his homework. The fourth standard student reached home with injury marks on his face on Monday evening.
His parents immediately reached out to the Child Help Line (CHL) to report the incident. “My son was hit for not completing his homework. He had marks on his face when he came home. Whatever the reason, they should not hit children. Children must be told what they did wrong, or even be given more assignments as punishment, but physical harm is not allowed,” his father told the Bangalore Mirror.
Reactions to the Incident
The day after the incident, the boy’s parents staged a protest outside the premises of Ever Shine English School demanding justice. As a result of which allegedly, the principal of the school suspended the teacher.
The Deputy Director of Public instructions (DDPI) South is still in the process of taking action against the teacher and booking a criminal case. “The BEO has forwarded the complaint to my office. Corporal punishment is condemnable and it should not prevail in any schools in the state. The teacher will definitely be filed for a criminal case and I will ask the BEO to pursue that and also issue a notice to the school management,” DDPI South, Aswatha Narayana Gowda, told Bangalore Mirror.
Incidents of Corporal Punishment in the Past
Another recent case was reported with the CHL on 7 December 2017, where a teacher plastered the child’s mouth for more than an hour as a punishment for being talkative at Chamarajnagar district in south Karnataka.
Despite a ban on corporal punishment, several incidents were registered with the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) and CHL last year.
As per law, corporal punishment is prohibited under Section 17 of the Right to Education Act (RTE) and has been incorporated as part of the Juvenile Justice Act which lists a three-year jail term for the accused teacher.
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