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Teacher Accused of Taping Child's Mouth Shut

A schoolteacher from Russia's republic of Chuvashia is under investigation on suspicion of maltreating her pupils, aged between six and eight, the Investigative Committee said Monday.

The 27-year-old teacher, who worked at a primary school in the village of Komsomolskoye, taped shut the mouth of one pupil and wrote "2" — a failing grade in the Russian school system — on the foreheads of four other students, regional investigators said in a statement.

The unidentified teacher also forbade her second-graders from sitting down during her lessons, forcing them to take notes while standing, the statement said.

The teacher warned her pupils against discussing the incidents — which occurred between 2012 and 2014 — with their parents and other adults, according to investigators.

If charged and convicted of maltreatment, the woman faces up to three years in prison and could be banned from teaching for up to five years.

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