Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), April 13 (IANS): In a shocking instance of corporal punishment, a government school teacher allegedly pierced a wooden cane into a student's throat for failing to do a maths problem, a police official said here on Friday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in the Zilla Parishad School in Pimpalgaon village in Karjat sub-district, said Karjat Police Station official S. B. Mhetre.

During a maths class session in Class II, Rohan D. Janjire apparently failed to solve a problem which enraged the teacher Chandrakant Sopan Shinde.

In a fit of rage, he picked up his cane and shoved it into the child's throat, piercing it and seriously damaging both his wind-pipe and food-pipe, and rendering him speechless.

The 8-year-old boy fell in the class, choking, writhing in pain with blood oozing out of his severely punctured throat and unable to speak.

There was an uproar and all the other horrified students from the classroom and the school ran out.

The school authorities arrived soon after and rushed the boy to a hospital in Rashin, where he was said to be serious, and was advised to be rushed to Pune for treatment.

He is currently undergoing treatment in the ICU at a Pune hospital, said Mhetre.

Meanwhile, the school authorities suspended the teacher and launched a probe into the incident. The police have lodged a complaint by the child's mother Sunita Janjire.

"The accused has been booked on charges of assault but has not yet been arrested. We are monitoring the student's condition. After we record his statement, and if required, the charges may be enhanced," Mhetre added.