Teacher brands class II boy with burning firewood; suspended

A class II student of a government school was allegedly branded with a burning firewood on his wrist by the headmaster after the boy denied stealing a register.

Puducherry: A class II student of a government school near here was allegedly branded with a burning firewood on his wrist by the headmaster after the boy denied stealing a register, following which the headmaster was suspended, officials said on Saturday.

The Chief Educational Officer initiated an inquiry and suspended the headmaster of the primary school in Koonichampet village in connection with the incident which occurred last week, they said. According to officials, the headmaster was informed by a teacher that the boy had stolen a school work register but the student denied stealing it. Seeking to "extract truth from the student" and after giving him a warning, he allegedly drew out a burning firewood from the oven in the noon meal kitchen and pressed it on the boy`s right hand wrist, causing crucifying pain and severe injuries, they said. Fearing serious consequences of his act, he himself took the boy to a nearest primary health centre and arranged for his treatment. He later took the boy to his parents and tendered apology following which they also did not make any complaint, they said. However, a section of the media reported the incident after which the education department suspended the headmaster, they said. PTI