New Delhi: A class 4 student died on Monday, December 19, in Karnataka's Gadag district after he was beaten up with an iron rod and then thrown down from the first floor by his teacher.

The Times of India identified the accused as Muthappa Yellapa Hadagali (33), who taught at the Adarsh Primary School in Hadli village.

According to the police, Muthappa fled the spot after the incident and is absconding.

"We have taken a complaint from other teachers and will arrest him soon. The reason is yet to be traced after investigation," superintendent of police Shivaprakash Devaraju told the daily.

A first information report has been registered under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, Hindustan Times reported.

The accused also allegedly assaulted the student's mother, Geetha Barker, who also teaches at the same school, and another colleague, when they tried to shield the student, news agency Press Trust of India reported, quoting the police.

“The boy was killed and his mother was also seriously injured. Another teacher, Shivanand Patil also sustained minor injuries, and has been admitted to a local hospital," Devaraju told the newspaper.

A similar incident was reported from a school in Delhi last week.

A teacher, in a fit of rage, allegedly hit a class 5 student with a pair of scissors. She also chopped the student's hair and flung her off the building’s first floor, fracturing her facial bone, PTI reported.

The accused teacher, identified as Geeta Rani Deshwal (26), has been arrested.

The incident took place at the Delhi Nagar Nigam Balika Vidyalaya in Model Basti area, opposite Filmistan.

Also read: The Story of a High School Student in New India 

Many such cases of corporal punishment have been reported from across the country over the past few months. But the question is, who has the responsibility to protect children against abuse.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2), an explainer in the Indian Express said.

According to the Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, 'physical punishment' is understood as any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light.

Examples include hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling the hair, boxing ears, smacking, slapping, spanking, hitting with any implement (cane, stick, shoe, chalk, dusters, belt, whip), giving electric shock and so on. It includes making children assume an uncomfortable position like standing on a bench, standing against the wall in a chair-like position, standing with school bag on head, holding ears through legs, kneeling, forced ingestion of anything, detention in the classroom, library, toilet or any closed space in the school.

'Mental harassment' is understood as any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child including sarcasm, calling names and scolding using humiliating adjectives, intimidation, using derogatory remarks for the child, ridiculing or belittling a child, shaming the child and more.

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