Teacher bites son as punishment

A teacher, who has adopted biting as a way of punishing his five-year-old son for his poor academic performance, is in the grips of the law after biting the boy severally, resulting in scores of cuts on his wrists and shoulders.

The boy was spotted by some food vendors, who saw him writhing at school and asked him how he came by such numerous "teeth wounds" on both hands.

The boy told them that it was his father who bit him like that, because the father claimed he was not academically good; the boy went ahead to show them the fresh wounds on his shoulders as well.

The vendors, who were also mothers, reported the conduct of the said teacher to the school authorities.

The victim, (name withheld), a pupil of Judea Preparatory School in Takoradi, told the police that his father, Charles Prah, claimed he was not intelligent, and, therefore, made, rules that would compel him to be academically smart.

The pains, according to the boy, were so excruciating that he had to cry for a long time.

The boy said one of the rules was that whenever his father was teaching him, or engaging him in any academic exercise, and he did not get the answers right, he had to receive a painful bite from him.

He described the bite as too painful as the father would continue biting him until blood flowed.

The story of the little boy was supported by the many scars on his wrists and the two fresh wounds on his shoulders which were sufficient evidence the father could not dispute.

The man, who is a divorcee and teacher at Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI), confirmed the son's story, and said he did it to enable his son buck up, adding that for sometime now, the bites had been an agreed punishment between him and his son.

Speaking to The Mirror, the Unit Commander of the Domestic Violence, and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, ASP Cecilia Arko, said the authorities of the boy's school brought him to the unit to lodge a complaint.

She said the unit had taken custody of the boy and prepared him for medical attention at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, and would later be handed over to the Department of Social Welfare.

She, however, expressed concern over the behaviour of the father, and added that the poor academic performance of a five-year-old boy did not warrant such treatment.

The unit commander said the man, after confessing, said he was a single parent living with the boy at Tadisco-Down in Takoradi.

She said the man was currently in police custody, pending further investigations.