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he mother of a 9th grade student at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Ruhul Islam junior high school in Pasar Manggis, South Jakarta, has filed a police report against the school'€™s principal for allegedly physically abusing her son.

'€œThe victim'€™s mother filed a report on Monday relating to an incident that allegedly took place last Thursday,'€ South Jakarta Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Agus Minarno told reporters on Tuesday.

Agus explained that the mother, Endah '€œArum'€ Sulistyaningrum, told the police that the school'€™s principal, Arif MH, had whipped her son'€™s back with a belt in front of his classmates during a class on Thursday.

Arif allegedly whipped the 15-year-old victim for using his phone in class.

'€œHowever, the mother claimed that her son was using his phone during a religion class to translate some Arabic text. She said that the boy'€™s teacher had invited students to use their smartphones to help them translate the text,'€ he said.

Arum claimed that Arif, accusing her son of messaging his friends, grabbed his phone and threw it on the floor so hard that it broke, Agus said.

Arum stated that she had confronted Arif over the incident, and the principal had claimed that he used corporal punishment in order to teach students self-discipline and respect for the school'€™s rules.

Last Thursday'€™s incident was not the first time the principal had whipped the victim, according to the latter'€™s testimony; the victim claimed that Arif had been beating him for years for minor violations such as tardiness.

'€œThe victim also said that other students were regularly beaten,'€ Agus said.

Agus explained that if Arif was found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum prison term of three-and-a-half years for assaulting a minor under Article 80 of the 2002 Child Protection Law.

Meanwhile, the head of the women and children'€™s protection unit at the South Jakarta Police, First Insp. Nunu Suparni, said that the victim'€™s injuries had been examined at the Pertamina Central Hospital (RSPP) in South Jakarta after the police report was filed.

'€œThe doctor confirmed that the victim had a belt-shaped wound on his back. It was healing but still visible,'€ she told The Jakarta Post.

She added that the mother had also filed a police report against the victim'€™s homeroom teacher, Ranti, who is Arif'€™s wife. The victim claimed that Ranti was also extremely rough with her students and had once put another student'€™s head in the garbage bin.

Although the case was worrying, Nunu said, the police should follow their standard operating procedure and question the victim, his parents and witnesses before summoning Arif and Ranti for questioning. (fss)