VISAKHAPATNAM, India – Authorities in India’s Andhra Pradesh state have launched an investigation into the death of a six-year-old boy who collapsed and died after allegedly being slapped by a teacher at a school in Visakhapatnam. The incident was captured on the school’s CCTV system and widely reported by local media on Thursday, August 20. The footage, verified by Al Jazeera, appears to show a female teacher holding the boy by his shirt before slapping him in the face. After the punishment, the boy, identified by local media as Pranay Tej, appeared frightened, began crying and coughing, and collapsed unconscious.
School staff rushed him to King George Hospital, but doctors said he was dead on arrival. An initial assessment suggested cardiac arrest, although authorities said the exact cause of death would be determined after the investigation and medical reports. Andhra Pradesh Education and Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh said legal action would be taken against those responsible, including school officials. “As a father, I cannot come to terms with what happened to little Pranay Tej,” Lokesh wrote on X on Friday, August 21. He said corporal punishment had no place in schools and ordered a full investigation and strict action against those responsible.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death. Police investigating officer Pudi Vara Prasad told the Press Trust of India that a case had been registered under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita after receiving a written complaint from the boy’s father.
Prasad said the boy’s body was handed over to his parents after police procedures and a post-mortem examination. He added that the exact cause of death would be established after all relevant reports were received. The boy’s relatives gathered at the hospital following his death and called for strong legal action against those responsible, according to NDTV.
Pranay’s father told NDTV that his son had appeared healthy that morning and had insisted on going to school. “At around 8 a.m., my son woke up and said he wanted to go to school. He insisted on going,” he said. The case has also renewed debate in India over corporal punishment in schools. A 2018 study by Indian NGO Agrasar found that around 80% of low-income schoolchildren in India experienced unlawful punishment by teachers.
