Teacher hit boy with stick, court hears

DUBAI // A teacher hit a seven-year-old boy with a stick because he could not spell the word "rock" in Arabic, a court has heard.

AM, 43, an Egyptian who works for the National Charity School in Garhoud, admitted that during an evening lesson on May 10 she hit the Pakistani boy, but claimed the stroke was too light to have caused an injury.

"I told him to write the word 'rock' on the board but he misspelt it," she told police. "I told him to correct it but he misspelt it again and I hit him very lightly on his back with a stick that had been lying on the desk."

She said did not know where the stick had come from.

"I hit him to attract his attention," she said.

"It was not my intention to harm him or assault him. He then went back to his desk and did not tell me that he was in pain or was affected by the stroke."

The boy's father reported the incident to police after his son told him about it.

Medical reports presented to court said the strike had caused a serious bruise and a cut on the boy's back.

The Dubai Misdemeanours Court charged the teacher with assault.

A verdict was scheduled for June 14.

wissa@thenational.ae