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Introduction: Causing physical injuries to the children by elders has become a common incidence in the society. Surprisingly significant number of school-children is subjected to various types of corporal punishment in the schools, in spite of strict circulars have been implemented by the Ministry of Education to alleviate corporal punishment. Objectives: To determine the circumstances, nature, causation and category of injuries in children. Design, setting and method: A retrospective study of 18 out of the 64 children referred to the Medicolegal Unit, District General Hospital, Matale for medico-legal examination from May 2010 to November 2010 were analyzed. All 18 children gave a history of assault and the excluded sample included the children with a history of sexual abuse and those transferred outside the Matale District. Results: 10 subjects (55%) showed blunt force injuries such as contusions, abrasions and fractures. One subject showed a ruptured ear drum and another showed a burn injury. 6 subjects (33%) showed no recent or remote injuries consistent with an assault. Male to female ratio was 1:1 and the most vulnerable age group was 14-17 years (50%). Corporal punishment by teachers were observed in six subjects (33%) and out of them 02 subjects showed grievous injuries. Conclusion: Corporal punishment was the commonest presentation in children subjected to physical chastisement in this study sample. This need to be evaluated further and urgent preventive measures should be addressed.