CHIANG MAI, THAILAND – A father accuses a teacher of kicking his four-year-old daughter in the back and shoving a chili pepper into her mouth. A friend of the child allegedly backed up the kicking claim. The teacher denies it and has threatened to sue.
The father wrote on Facebook that his daughter told him a teacher kicked her in the back and put a chili pepper in her mouth. At first, he said, he did not fully believe her story.
According to the father, a friend of the girl then confirmed the incident. The allegations target a school in Chiang Mai province.
Teacher denies the claim
When the father dropped his daughter at school the next morning, he confronted the teacher the child had named. The teacher rejected the accusation and said she would ask around.
The father argued that small children aged three or four can clearly tell what happened at school. His daughter, he said, gave him a full account of the incident.
Father calls for different discipline methods
In his post, the father warned that such an incident could happen again. He urged other parents to come forward if their children had similar experiences.
He demanded methods for punishing children other than physical discipline. He said he wants to protect his daughter and will not accept her being treated that way again.
School threatens legal action
Later, the father wrote that the school had summoned him for a meeting. There, he said, officials threatened him with legal steps.
Do I have no right to protect my daughter if the allegation against the teacher is true?
said the father. He added he would report on further developments.