Outrage in India over death of six-year-old ‘slapped’ by his teacher

Andhra Pradesh’s regional minister of education says he is taking legal action with a committee against those responsible.Authorities in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have launched an investigation after a six-year-old child collapsed and reportedly died after he was slapped by his teacher in a school classroom.The incident was captured on a security camera in the school in Visakhapatnam in the southeast Indian state, before being shared widely by local media on Thursday. The incident is already causing an uproar around corporal punishment in the country.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Indian PM Modi warns about left-wing activists in Independence Day speechlist 2 of 4Sedition to anthem: Many lives of ‘Azadi’ chants in India’s youth protestslist 3 of 4Will India’s ‘Cockroach’ movement force Modi’s BJP to rethink its politics?list 4 of 4India’s ‘Cockroach’ movement makes schools next battleground against Modiend of listThe video clip, which has been verified by Al Jazeera, shows a female teacher holding a child by his clothes before slapping him on the face, after which he collapses.“We are taking legal action against those responsible and the school management,” Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh’s education and IT minister, wrote on Facebook on Thursday.Police are also investigating the circumstances around the death of the child, who local media have named as Pranay Tej.“As a father, I can’t get over what happened to little Pranay Tej. I cannot imagine the pain his parents are going through. corporal punishment has no place in our schools. No child should ever be subjected to violence in the name of discipline,” Lokesh wrote on X on Friday.“I have already directed a full investigation and strict action against anyone found responsible. My heart goes out to Pranay’s family in this moment of unimaginable grief.”Relatives gathered at the hospital after learning about the boy’s death and demanded strict action against those responsible, according to India" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="190748" data-entity-type="organization">NDTV India.Pranay Tej’s father said his son appeared healthy in the morning before going to school. “In the morning around 8am, my son woke up and said he wanted to go to school. He insisted on going to school,” he told NDTV.