A criminal case has been launched in Sisian after a 6-year-old boy was slapped during a private tutoring session. The 55-year-old elementary school teacher from Ishkhanasar School is now facing charges for inflicting severe physical pain and suffering on a minor. Law enforcement authorities have imposed travel restrictions on her as a pretrial measure and suspended her teaching activities.
The boy attends school in Sisian, while the teacher was giving him supplementary private lessons at home. The video of the incident was captured by the sobbing child's brother.
"She says, 'I got angry and slapped him, don't you slap [your kids]?'" — this was the exact explanation the boy's parents heard from the teacher. The mother explained that her son is in the second grade but still does not know the alphabet, which is why she had to pay for private lessons. The parent noted that she never could have imagined any violence, as the same woman had tutored her older sons years ago.
Liana Movsisyan, the principal of Ishkhanasar School, noted that the teacher has only five pupils in the village and that there had never been any complaints about her work. The principal described her as a well-balanced person.
Following the incident, the boy refuses to go to school. Members of the Guardianship and Trusteeship Commission of the Sisian Municipality visited the family, but the child refused to interact with them. According to Nara Hovhannisyan, head of the education department, the child is in an unstable psychological state and is in desperate need of professional psychological support.
In recent weeks, a series of violence cases against schoolchildren have surfaced in various provinces. In one instance, a 7-year-old girl was subjected to punches and strikes with a pointer stick from an elementary teacher; in another case, a teacher struck a 13-year-old student, injuring his eye with the edge of a notebook. While parents largely voice frustration over such occurrences, they often refrain from pursuing criminal legal action.
The abuse during home tutoring has transcended classroom walls, exposing a serious issue that remains outside institutional oversight. The parent trusted the teacher solely based on past positive experience, yet even years of pedagogical background failed to guarantee the child's safety. Video footage became the sole factor that made legal proceedings possible in this case.
Notably, a culture of silence tends to surround such incidents in the provinces. Parents complain about violence but often avoid escalating matters to the criminal realm, allowing such acts to be swept under the rug. In this case, charges have already been filed, yet the child's psychological recovery remains an open question.
