Honnavar: Turning up late for classes proved fatal for an eighth standard student of a private school who collapsed and died after being forced to jog around the playground by the headmaster as punishment.

Police said the headmaster of New English school in Uttara Kannada district asked Afzal Ahmed Fayaz (14) to do three rounds of the ground for turning up late, despite the boy's plea he could not do so as he was suffering from fever for the past two days and had not been attending classes.

The headmaster forced Fayaz to do the first lap shortly after which he suddenly started gasping for breath and collapsed, they said.

School authorities rushed him to a hospital, but doctors declared he was brought dead.

The incident sparked off protests by local people, who stormed the school and pelted stones at window panes.

The Karnataka government ordered a probe into the issue and directed the administration to send a report at the earliest.

"We have been repeatedly cautioning teachers not to punish students. But such incidents are still happening. We will take stern action against the teacher," Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Visweshwara Hegde Kageri said.