MP school principal hits Class I boy with plastic pipe for failing to recite table of 2; booked

Police have registered a case against the woman principal of a private school in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district for allegedly beating a six-year-old boy studying in Class I with a plastic pipe after he failed to recite the multiplication table of 2, an official said.

The incident took place on October 11 and a case in this connection was registered against principal Shashikala Thakur on Monday evening based on the complaint lodged by the minor's family, Civil Lines police station in-charge Hitesh Patil said on Tuesday.

She was booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, based on the complaint of the minor's father.

The children were asked to memorise the multiplication table of 2 as homework. However, after the boy could not recite the multiplication table in the class, the principal beat him with a plastic pipe as punishment, Patil said citing the complaint.

"After returning home from school in the evening, his family members found him not talking to any of them. When the child's mother was changing his clothes, she noticed injury marks on both his thighs as well as face," he added.

The child's family took him to a private hospital where he received first aid, according to him.

Patil said a detailed investigation is underway into the alleged assault on the child at school.