Barrackpore, Aug. 8: A teacher hit a student with a wooden ruler 56 times until he fell unconscious in a North 24-Parganas school yesterday — because he sneezed in class.

Class IX student Rajakumar Paswan has been admitted to Bhatpara State General Hospital with bruises on his back and severe pain in his spinal chord.

“X-rays have shown that there are no cracks. But the boy has severe pain on his back. We are conducting other tests,” said S. Dutta, the hospital superintendent.

Rajakumar’s uncle, Amit Kumar Gupta, said he had caught a cold and sneezed several times in the physical science class in the afternoon.

Rajesh Dube, a physical science teacher of Hari Uchchya Vidyalaya at Motipur in Jagaddal, 40km from Calcutta, thought the repeated sneezing was to tease him.

“The teacher felt insulted. He thought my nephew was teasing him. The teacher called him and accused him of sneezing to disturb the class. Mr Dube told Raja he would give him exemplary punishment and started beating him up with a ruler. My nephew tried to tell the teacher that he indeed had a cold, but in vain,” said Gupta.

The teacher apparently told Rajakumar that he deserved 100 blows.

“Classmates told me that he slumped to the ground after being hit 56 times with the ruler,” said Gupta.

Teacher-in-charge B.L. Yadav admitted that Dube had beaten up Rajakumar, but maintained that he had disturbed the class.

“What can you do if a student continues to make mischief in class despite being asked by the teacher to behave? Physical science teacher Rajesh Dube had warned Rajakumar repeatedly, but he continued to play the fool,” said Yadav.

When Rajakumar fell unconscious, Dube stopped beating him and called some other teachers. Water was sprinkled on the 14-year-old’s face to bring him back to consciousness.

“The school authorities informed Rajakumar’s parents about the incident. I rushed to the school and took my nephew to the Bhatpara hospital,” said Gupta.

The boy’s father, who works in a jute mill, said he would lodge a police complaint once his son gets better.

Instances of teachers punishing students brutally are on the rise in Bengal.

Debpranay Roy, a Class II student in Nadia, was hit with a duster for wanting to take his mid-day meal home. A patient of chronic lung disorder, he had to be hospitalised.