In a shocking incident of corporal punishment, a 7-year-old Kerala boy got his wrist cut after being caned by a teacher during the morning hour of class. The incident took place in a school in Mambaram, Kannur on Friday and the victim, a class 2 boy,  was immediately admitted to a private hospital in the locality and later shifted to the Thalassery Co-operative Hospital where he underwent hours of surgery.

The accused teacher, K Dhanusha, has been booked by the Pinarayi police station. According to their initial investigation, the police concluded that the boy was subjected to 'accidental' caning by the teacher who was punishing a group of children for not preparing for their exam.

"The incident happened between 9 and 10:10 am period when the teacher was brandishing a metal ruler at the children for not preparing for a class test . The ruler accidentally hit the boy's wrist as he was standing there. Due to the impact, he cut his wrist," an officer from the Pinaryi police station, where a case has been registered, told TNM.

However, Childline Kannur who met the 7-year-old at the hospital on Saturday says otherwise.

"When we questioned the boy and his parents on Saturday, we discovered that the boy had been hit and it wasn't an accident. Based on this we sent a report to Pinarayi police station and the Child Welfare Commission. The CWC will also hold a meeting with him on Monday," said Jerin Paul, Childline Co-ordinator Kannur.

A case has been registered against the accused teacher. However, no arrest has been made so far.

"We have registered a case under Section 324 of the IPC (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and Section 75 under the Juvenile Justice Act (which states that whoever is in charge or control of the child voluntarily assault, abandons, abuses, exposes or wilfully neglects the child or causes any of the above, then he/she will be punishable with a term of upto 3 years or with a 1 lakh rupee fine or even both in some cases)," the officer from the Pinarayi police added.