A viral video showing a teacher beating children at Peshawar Model School has sparked a heated debate in Pakistan about corporal punishment.
The school authorities said action would be taken against the teacher, but the local police said no action can be taken unless a complaint is lodged.
The National Commission for the Rights of the Child strongly criticized the incident and emphasized the importance of having and enforcing legislation to prevent similar situations.
Rana Asif Habib, a lawyer and head of the Initiator Human Development Foundation, has spoken about the lack of proper legislation in the country to combat corporal punishment.
He pointed out that Sindh was the only province to pass a law against corporal punishment in 2016 and that despite signing and ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, Pakistan had failed to pass legislation on the matter.
He also stressed the importance of strong consequences for anyone who uses corporal punishment on minors in schools or madrassas.