The father of an 11-year-old boy has complained to Bandaragama Police that the principal of his son’s school beat him in the face, leaving the child in enough pain that he could not brush his teeth.
The boy is a Grade 7 student at Sri Saralankara Maha Vidyalaya, Welmilla, Bandaragama. His father, who lives in Palagama, told police the principal struck the child hard across both sides of his face with both hands, on several occasions, after accusing him of using a rude word, Hiru News reported at 10.57 p.m.
The boy was admitted first to Wethara District Hospital and then transferred to Homagama Base Hospital for further treatment.
The Children and Women’s Bureau of the Bandaragama Police is investigating.
A second complaint, from a member of staff
The more unusual part of the account concerns what is alleged to have happened after the assault.
A development officer working at the school recorded the incident on his mobile phone and objected to it. Hiru reports that the principal became hostile towards him as a result, and is now said to be arranging to have him removed from the school — using political influence, getting other teachers to sign a petition, and with the backing of senior officials at the Horana Zonal Education Office.
The development officer has made his own complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, covering both the assault on the student and what he describes as improper pressure on his employment.
These are allegations in two complaints, not findings. No disciplinary or criminal determination has been reported, and the principal’s account is not in either filing.
What is established and what is not
The principal has not been named, and no filing says whether he has been interdicted, suspended, questioned or arrested. Neither the Ministry of Education nor the Horana Zonal Education Office has responded publicly, and the officials said to be backing the petition are not identified.
Nothing says when the assault took place, how long the boy was hospitalised, or what his condition is now. The National Child Protection Authority, which handles corporal-punishment complaints in schools, is not mentioned in either account.
A note on one detail
The injury has been described in English-language reporting in more than one way. Hiru’s Sinhala text says the boy was left in a state where he could not even brush his teeth — a description of pain, not of a jaw injury. Newswire, an aggregator which does not count towards this article’s source rating, independently renders it the same way and adds that the father says the assault left visible injuries on his son’s face. This desk carries that reading.
Corporal punishment in schools is prohibited in Sri Lanka, and complaints of it reach police and the National Child Protection Authority regularly. What distinguishes this complaint is the second allegation attached to it — that the member of staff who documented the incident is the one now facing removal.
Not reported
This story has so far been carried only by Hiru News among verified newsrooms, and only in Sinhala. No filing from Ada Derana, the Daily Mirror, NewsFirst or the Daily News had appeared when this article was written. This desk has deliberately not published the photograph of the child that accompanies the Sinhala report.
