The occurrence was the culmination of days of conflict between the boy and his teachers. On Tuesday afternoon, an elderly school attendant asked him to fetch the school keys from an upstairs room and instead of bringing the keys downstairs, he reportedly threw them on the road. Provoked by this behaviour, his teacher, Savita Devi, allegedly struck him repeatly with a cane, raising welts on his back, legs and face but causing no major injuries.

Anil's parents lodged a complaint with the Sector 31 police station on Tuesday night but later withdrew the complaint as both the parties reached a compromise.

According to teacher Savita Devi, Anil Sharma, a Class VI student, is "a difficult student from the very beginning". Tuesday's incident was preceded by another spot of trouble on Saturday. According to Savita Devi: "Anil brought some vulgar photographs to the school and circulated these among the girl students. When I summoned his parents, they took away the photographs and took their child home. One of my colleagues tore one of the photographs that was in my possession saying that it was too vulgar to keep."

She alleges that on Monday Anil sat in the classroom with his fly unbuttoned. "When I asked him to behave properly, he just kept sitting there and smiled at me. I had to summon his parents again."

The next day, according to Savita Devi, the above mentioned key throwing incident occurred. "It was then that I gave him a thrashing to an extent any parent would give to his or her child for misbehaving."

According to Savita Devi: "On Saturday, after they took him home, Anil's father, Ved Prakash Sharma, tied him to the ceiling fan and beat him severely with his belt. It is those marks that the parents are showing, coupled with mine."

A neighbour of the Sharma family, said: "Ved Prakash gave Anil a sound thrashing after he learnt that he had been misbehaving in the school, but I don't know who gave the boy more severe marks."

Ved Prakash Sharma however denied having beaten his son: "The teacher is fabricating the story to save herself," he said. Anil's mother, added: "How is it possible for a 13-year-old to behave in the manner the teacher is describing? She is blowing it out of proportion. I admit that Anil threw the keys on the road, but children do misbehave at times, it doesn't mean that you beat them black and blue."

A distraught Savita Devi said: "The simple fact is that I have been unfortunate in this case, as they have blown it out of proportion." Savita Devi, however said that she and Anil Sharma's families (both are residents of Ram Darbar Colony) had friendly relations but alleges: "They have done this to malign me and my husband in the colony. I have no other option but to resign from the job as I feel humilated."