A teacher who allegedly hit a child with a hammer for failing to complete her homework is being investigated, the police said yesterday.

The 10-year-old girl was allegedly hit on her head and shoulder Thursday by the female teacher in Johor Baru after refusing to accept punishment on her hands.

"We are investigating the teacher for causing hurt," police officer Roslan Ahmad told AFP . He said the child suffered no fractures but had bruising on her head and shoulder.

A spokesperson for the school's parent-teacher association, S Kanthavel, was quoted in reports yesterday as saying the girl suffered for three hours before being taken for medical treatment by her parents.

No arrest yet

"The student told her father the teacher usually used a wooden ruler or a cane to hit pupils who failed to finish their homework on the knuckles.

"Fearing the pain, she refused to put her hands on the table," he was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.

"The teacher got angry and reached out for a hammer hanging near a board that was used to hang posters, and hit her twice, on the shoulder and on the head. Though in pain and crying, she was ordered back to her seat," he said.

Police said they had yet to recover the hammer or arrest the teacher.