Teacher Beats 7-Year-Old Boy with Iron Bar, Fractures Both Arms

By Owais Jafri

A seminary teacher arrested for brutally beating a student was remanded into police custody for three days on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the seven-year-old child, Muhammad Tahir* was discharged from Jahanian tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospital on Thursday. He will need bed rest for three months to recover from fractures in both his arms. In a statement before the judicial magistrate on Thursday, Qari Shahid Hussain* denied having beaten the student. The cleric was arrested by Thatta Sadiqabad police a day after the alleged beating on Wednesday on a complaint filed by Intizar Hussain*, the father of the child. SHO Sheikh Haider Hussain said the cleric had fled to a neighbouring village from where he was arrested on Wednesday. He said the police would question him about the incident and proceed in accordance with the law. The qari had locked the seminary, he had been running for over 15 years, and gone into hiding after the registration of the case against him on Tuesday.

The FIR registered under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 337 F1 (Punishment of ghayr-jaifa) and 337 L2 (Punishment for other hurt) of the Pakistan Penal Code accused the cleric of beating Tahir for failing to recite a lesson he had been assigned to learn.

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The complainant said his son had been beaten up with a wooden baton and then with an iron rod. He said he took the child to the hospital after he was called to the scene by some of the fellow students.

Meanwhile, Tahir was discharged from Jahaian THQ hospital on Thursday, after remaining at the hospital for two days. A report prepared by Dr Arshad Warraich who treated Tahir recommended bed rest for three months. It said both arms of the child had suffered fractures. “He had bruises all over his backwhen he was admitted to the hospital. He was unable to walk due to swelling in both legs,” the report said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the child said he had learnt the assigned lesson but was unable to recite it well in front of the entire class. “I was confused when Qari sahib suddenly asked me to get up and recite the verses,” he said. He said the cleric had starting beating him for not reading out the lesson loud enough for everyone to hear.

*Names have been changed to protect identity of the victim

Pakistan Penal Code

342 Punishment for wrongful confinement:

Whoever wrongfully confines any person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for, a term, which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to  135[three thousand rupees] 135 or with both.

337 F-1

Whoever by doing any act with the intention of causing hurt to any person, or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause hurt, causes:-

damihah to any person, shall be liable to daman and may also be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year as ta’zir

337 L-2

Whoever causes hurt not covered by sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with daman, or with both.

Source : tribune