We are apalled at the news of a headmaster of Golapganj High School in Dinajpur brutally beating three of its female students. The students sustained serious injuries and had to be hospitalised. The manner in which they were beaten amounts to abuse and violates the basic rights of children to be treated with dignity and to be protected from any kind of violence. 

Bangladesh's High Court in 2011 declared all types of corporal punishment in schools 'illegal and unconstitutional' in response to the litigation filed by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) to stop cruel punishment of children. Later, the Ministry of Education banned corporal (inhuman) punishment following that instruction. Unfortunately many schools have not taken the Court's directive seriously. Recurrent incidents of teachers or administrative high-ups resorting to cruel corporal punishment show that the government order is yet to be implemented at the ground level and teachers and school administrators are either unaware of it or simply have chosen to ignore it. 

In this case, the local villagers vehemently protested the beating and demanded suspension of the guilty headmaster. It is encouraging that the teacher was immediately suspended. But suspension is hardly enough. The headmaster has committed a criminal offence and so should be brought to book and given exemplary punishment. Teachers, parents and school authorities should also be made aware of the ill consequences of corporal punishment on children and the government must make sure that educational institutions honour the court's order. Corporal punishment is a primitive, unacceptable practice and must be rooted out of our schools for good.