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Last updated: 27 july, 2010 - 11:15 GMT

A child's suicide and a father's campaign

 Rouvanjit Rawla's father Ajay

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In India the caning of children is at the centre of a national debate following the suicide in February of 13-year-old Rouvanjit Rawla.

He was a student at the elite private school La Martiniere in Kolkata and had been caned there before his death.

 Rouvanjit Rawla

Rouvanjit Rawla

His father Ajay blames this treatment for his son's suicide. The school disputes this.

Ajay's campaign has prompted an investigation by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights which condemned the school in a report published last week.

The incident has drawn attention to the fact that corporal punishment continues to be used in India, despite being illegal.

When Matthew Bannister spoke to Ajay on the line from Kolkata, he asked what Rouvanjit was like.

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