Chennai: A teacher of a popular school here was suspended allegedly for hitting a class three student for failing to recite a poem in Hindi.

The management on Monday said the teacher has been placed under suspension following an enquiry on February 21.

“The incident came to the school authorities’ notice on Friday last that the teacher had punished the student for not reciting the Hindi poem. She was suspended following an enquiry,” an official, who did not want to be quoted, said.

He, however, maintained that this incident was only between the parents of the affected student and the teacher.

Following the incident last week, the parents of the student studying in Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram School here took up the issue with the management of the CBSE school that maintained a ‘zero tolerance’ policy’ to violence.

The disciplinary action was taken as the school guidelines prohibited corporal punishment, physical, verbal or emotional abuse.