Caned schoolboy loses his speech

A 12-year-old schoolboy with a talent for recitation has been reduced to using sign language since being struck on the head with a cane by his teacher for failing to answer a question in class.

“Sudden onset of aphasia following (corporal) punishment by teacher” is the diagnosis by doctors at Bangur Institute of Neurology, where Class VIII student Prasun Kumar Panda was brought from Contai on Tuesday after 10 days of scurrying from one specialist’s chamber to another in search of his lost speech.

Aphasia is an acquired speech or language disorder that can be triggered by physical or psychological trauma. In Prasun’s case, CT and MRI scans have revealed no serious physical injury but the blow to his head did damage him psychologically, say doctors.

Prasun, who studies in Contai High School and stays in a hostel, was attending a life science class on August 21 when teacher Anupam Mudi asked him a question that he failed to answer correctly.

According to the boy’s written testimony in Bengali, the teacher threatened to beat him to pulp before striking him once on the back and then the head.

“Toke jodi maari, tor kichhui aasto thakbe na (If I hit you, nothing will remain of you),” the teacher allegedly warned Prasun even as he picked up the cane.

“Bolte na boltei, Sir pithe ekta jore maare. Maarar shongey shongey boshe portei, Sir lathita abar opore toley. Aami bhebechhilam lathita pithey marbe, kintu shonge shonge lathita eshe porey shojore mathay (Even as he spoke, Sir hit me on my back. As I slumped on the bench, Sir lifted his cane again. I thought it would land on my back but he hit my head),” wrote Prasun.

Father Prajnabhushan Panda, a farmer from Heria in East Midnapore, said the school authorities summoned him to Contai that evening to say that his son had “suddenly stopped speaking” after being scolded in class. It was only after a local doctor advised a CT scan that headmaster Arup Das revealed that Prasun had been “mildly” caned.

“He was such an articulate boy, good at reciting poetry and drama. What will happen to him now?” cried Prajnabhushan, who decided against filing a complaint after the school promised to foot the entire medical bill.

“We have asked the parents to take the child wherever they want to for treatment. We will pay for the treatment,” headmaster Das told Metro.

So when is Prasun likely to regain his speech? According to psychiatrist Ranadip Ghosh Roy, it could take months of medication and supportive therapy for the boy to speak again. “The good thing is it’s fully curable,” he added.

Apurba Ghosh, the director of the Institute of Child Health where Prasun had an MRI six days ago, confirmed that he hadn’t suffered nerve damage. Neurologist Trishit Roy, who examined the boy on Tuesday, said “extreme phobia” was as potent as a physical injury. “That is why he is suffering from a functional loss of speech,” he explained.


Sanjay Mandal, The Telegraph Metro