The recent triple suicide case of the three Std IX students whose bodies were fished out of a stream in Virar has once again shed light on the often ignored problem of corporal punishment. The authorities are not only struggling to implement stringent rules to curb the offence, but also seem to be turning a blind eye to the number of cases cropping up across the country.

Recently, a special educator was caught beating up a student in a special school in the city, which caused a huge uproar against the treatment meted out at children with special needs. Similarly, a home tutor’s act of kicking and punching a three-year-old in his own house was caught on camera, leading to the teacher’s arrest. While arrests are being made in such cases, which are reported, what about cases that still go unreported, with children left to suffer silently? What about the merciless case studies or corporal punishment that have been reported and ended with the victim taking his/her own life?