A nine-year-old boy was mercilessly caned by his madrasa teacher in Alamnagar area of Rangpur on Wednesday.

The victim Al Muhit Hossain Adnan, a student of class II, has been “groaning in pain at a hospital with bruises all over his body”, said his father Shah Alam.

Adnan's classmates in Talimul Quraan Madrasa said their teacher Iqbal Hossain came to the class in the afternoon “looking a little angry”.

When Adnan failed to answer a question, the teacher started caning him.

The boy collapsed to the floor at one point, but that did not stop Iqbal, they added.

After class, the students informed Adnan's parents, who came to the madrasa and took him to a hospital.

Shah Alam said he will go to police and has been waiting for the madrasa authorities to take action against the teacher.

Contacted, Iqbal said he had caned the boy.