Delhi govt asked to pay Rs 25K to corporal punishment victim

The Delhi government has been recommended to pay compensation worth Rs 25,000 to a class seven student subjected to “unreasonable corporal punishment” in a government school in 2013, by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday.

The incident dates back to November 23, 2014 when the principal of the concerned government school in North Delhi had allegedly beaten a boy, Aman, with a stick, thus, injuring both his wrists. An inquiry revealed, however, that there were no fractures, the commission observed. 

Nevertheless, the principal had been arrested on the day of the incident and a chargesheet was filed against him in February 2014, according to NHRC officials. Further, not only did the boy’s family file a complaint against the principal at the Timarpur police station, a separate complaint was also filed before the NHRC by an activist. 

The Delhi government had contended that since the police too had taken criminal action against the principal for beating the boy with a stick, “the award of monetary relief would not be appropriate, especially when the injuries did not seem to be grave.” The commission, however, observed “it is an established fact that the victim was subjected to unreasonable corporal punishment and thereby his human rights were violated,” thereby asking the Delhi Chief Secretary to pay the compensation amount to the boy and submit a compliance report to the commission within six weeks.