The word 'punish' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to refer to something that is done to someone as a consequence of them doing something wrong. For example: "The thief was punished for his crimes."
Behavioral economists have shown that a sizable percentage of people are willing to pay real money to punish people who are taking from a common pot but not contributing to it.
"I will show you how we punish spies".
In the end it wasn't Jeremy Clarkson's racist, homophobic or sexist comments, but a "fracas" with a colleague that became the final straw for the BBC, long urged to punish its highest-paid star.
It was impossible to ignore the basic point that, were Ayr even slightly more competent, they would punish Hibs' inadequacy.
"They'll punish me but I don't know why.
The Italians and the French do not want to punish Putin.
He has to punish them but does it justly and moves on".
Surely the point is not to punish the act of a good Samaritan like Clarke?
What the IOM could not do, he added, was punish the perpetrators: "Prosecuting offenders is a matter for the police and the state, not us".
"Australia has an obligation to impartially investigate allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, to criminally punish perpetrators, and to provide effective remedies (including compensation) to victims," Saul wrote.
Sources familiar with the case suggest the Kremlin may have decided to punish the Economist for its consistently critical reporting on Russia, especially on taboo themes that irritate the Moscow administration, such as the country's security services.
