New Delhi: To curb the "menace" of corporal punishment in schools, a foundation was launched on Wednesday named after Shanno Khan, the 11-year-old Delhi girl, who died after slipping into coma following alleged punishment by a teacher.

"We pledge and resolve to fight the menace of corporal punishment until it is eradicated from schools in the remotest corners of the country," said Rohit Kochhar, a corporate law firm owner, who floated the Kochhar Shanno Foundation.

"The foundation will endeavour to support welfare projects pertaining to education and well being of underprivileged children," said Kochhar, a Delhi based lawyer.

Kochhar has also moved the Delhi High Court with a writ petition seeking exemplary compensation of Rs.10 million for the bereaved family of Shanno, a student of a government school in Delhi, who died on April 17.

Shanno was asked by her class teacher Manju in M.C primary school in Narela in outer Delhi to recite the English alphabet, failing which she was made to stand in the sun for two hours with bricks on her shoulders.

The foundation would also promote programmes and training for teachers in government-run schools, besides promoting an education system in the country that postures equality among children of different caste, classes and communities. IANS