The parents of a Class 6 student in Pune have claimed that he is suffering from “facial paralysis” after an art teacher at his residential school slapped him for not completed a drawing assignment, PTI reported. On Monday, police filed a case against the teacher for voluntarily causing grievous hurt. The child was allegedly assaulted between October 15 and November 2, the parents said.

The boy’s father, Shailendra Patil, claimed that he had gone to the school on November 3 to bring the boy home for Diwali. “However, we noticed some abnormalities on the left side of his face,” Patil said. “Upon inquiring, our child told us that the teacher had hit him in the face and banged it against a bench for not completing an assignment.”

According to a doctor, the child could be suffering from bell’s palsy as his face has started to disfigure, said Patil. Bell’s palsy is a condition in which the muscles on one side of the face weaken or paralyse. “We decided to come to Pune to escalate the matter and get better treatment for our son,” he told the Hindustan Times.

Principal SS Patil of Shri Chhatrapatil Shivaji Maharaj Preparatory Military School said that the school management received the complaint on Monday and will set up a committee to look into the matter. “As per procedure, we have suspended the teacher,” the principal said. “Although parents claim that the teacher has been committing such actions for a long time against many students, the matter still needs to be investigated thoroughly.”

The victim’s older brother, who studies in Class 8 in the same school, reportedly told their father that the teacher, identified as Sandeep Gade, is known for meting out corporal punishment.