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dirtydog

Buri Ram _ A complaint has been filed against the deputy director of a school in Muang district who chained two 12-year-old students to a tree as punishment for truancy. The draconian punishment was meted out after the boys skipped a maths class late last month at a mathayom school in the district. The victimisation enraged their parents who yesterday lodged a complaint against the school's deputy director who ordered them to be chained up.

''He (the deputy director) placed two bowls of water in front of them and, in a bid to humiliate them, called other students to see what he termed the 'monsters','' said one of the boy's mothers.

The boys were chained up for about three hours before being released.

The woman asked education officials to take legal action against the deputy director for the act, which she said went against teacher ethics.

She said her son has become extremely stressed since the punishment and requires continual comforting and reassurance.

''I felt very bad,'' said the boy, whose name was withheld. ''My classmates still call me a monster.''

The deputy director, whose name was not given, admitted he chained up the two students, but argued he did not mean to physically harm or torture them.

''This was to create a psychological impact to keep the boys from skipping class again,'' he said, reasoning the boys were too wild to be dealt with using more conventional methods.

He also claimed their parents had signed an agreement with him, allowing the school to punish their sons if they broke school rules again.

However, chief of the 1st education zone for Buri Ram Surasak Srisawangrat said he had ordered the school director to investigate the case.

The school director was not present when the punishment was carried out, he said.

However, the director telephoned his deputy, instructing him to free the boys when he found out what had happened, Mr Surasak said.

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