A study on children who were subjected to physical chastisement in Matale District, Sri Lanka refereed for medico-legal examination

Abstract

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Introduction: </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Causing physical injuries to the children by elders has become a common incidence in the society. Surprisingly significant number of school-children is subjected to various types of corporal punishment in the schools, in spite of strict circulars have been implemented by the Ministry of Education to alleviate corporal punishment. </span></span></span></span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Objectives: </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To determine the circumstances, nature, causation and category of injuries in children. </span></span></span></span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Design, setting and method: </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A retrospective study of 18 out of the 64 children referred to the Medico-legal Unit, District General Hospital, Matale for medico-legal examination from May 2010 to November 2010 were analyzed. All 18 children gave a history of assault and the excluded sample included the children with a history of sexual abuse and those transferred outside the Matale District. </span></span></span></span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Results: </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">10 subjects (55%) showed blunt force injuries such as contusions, abrasions and fractures. One subject showed a ruptured ear drum and another showed a burn injury. 6 subjects (33%) showed no recent or remote injuries consistent with an assault. Male to female ratio was 1:1 and the most vulnerable age group was 14-17 years (50%). Corporal punishment by teachers were observed in six subjects (33%) and out of them 02 subjects showed grievous injuries .</span></span></span></span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Conclusion: </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Corporal punishment was the commonest presentation in children subjected to physical chastisement in this study sample. This need to be evaluated further and urgent preventive measures should be addressed. </span></span></span></span> <p style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">DOI:</span></span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/mljsl.v1i1.7269">http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/mljsl.v1i1.7269</a></span></span></span></span></span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><em><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Medico-Legal Journal of Sri Lanka </span></span></span></span></em><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">2011; 1(1), Jan-April : 38-41</span></span></span></span>