You see, he didnt know corporal punishment was illegal!

And, as if that justifies everything.

As if it justifies that 12-year old Rouvan Rawla was repeatedly rebuked, harrassed, humiliated and finally caned by Principal Sunirmal Chakravarthi of Le Martinere school in Kolkata. He was caned so hard that the cane snapped in two. Worse, it broke the spirit of the boy so badly that he hung himself in his room four days later.

In response to the protests and outcry, the Principal has now "apologized". He said, ""I have to admit that when I caned this boy, I made a mistake and am willing to face consequences of that. But to link the caning of this boy to his death 4-5 days later is stretching it."

Really?!! Is it really such a stretch to understand the connection between a 12-year-old's fragile, impressionable psyche and the emotional trauma caused by physical and public humiliation? Hmmm, doesnt sound like rocket science to me. And the Principal is supposed to be the expert of children's education, personality development and wellbeing.

There was another part of his statement that leaves me stupefied. I actually hadnt realized that there are schools with overt policies in favour of corporal punishment.

Apparently, this school does believe that to "correct children, we need to punish them". This will probably stir the hornet's nest, but I cant help screaming out loud - NO. One doesnt need to punish in order to correct a child. And, one definitely doesnt need to punish physically.

Photo Credit: The pic on top is from here.