Teacher records sobbing student after beating

Ras Al Khaimah: A teacher with a private school is standing trial for striking a student on his hand with a ruler and using abusive language.

The defendant is also charged with videotaping the student while crying and threatening to post the footage online in case he complained against her or reported the incident to his parents or the police.

As per court records, the case dates back to last month when the student's mother lodged a complaint with an Ras Al Khaimah police station against the teacher, accusing her of insulting and beating up her son in front of his classmates, Khaleej Times reported.

She said the teacher not only struck her son and insulted him, but also filmed him with her mobile phone and threatened to post the footage on the Internet if he complained against her.

The RAK police summoned the teacher, who denied all the charges.

The teacher's defence lawyer told the court that the lawsuit filed against his client was malicious and baseless, particularly as "she had obtained a good conduct certificate from her school".

Her nine-year education record "speaks volumes", he said.

"The student's mother filed the case one week after the alleged beating, and that means she took a long time to fabricate the charges against my client," he told the court.

The school administration had also initiated an internal investigation that cleared the teacher of the charges levelled against her, the defence lawyer added.

The teacher, he said, is allowed to discipline the "misbehaving student and correct his inappropriate conduct or failure to observe school rules".

The lawyer claimed there was no evidence of wrongdoing against the teacher in the case file. The court adjourned the case till Thursday, when a verdict will be pronounced.