Spare the rod: Student beaten for ‘talking back’

Faisalabad EDO has formed a committee to probe the incident.

FAISALABAD: Faisalabad executive district officer for education on Friday took notice of a corporal punishment complaint after a school teacher allegedly beat a student until he fainted.

A spokesman for the EDO’s office said a committee had been formed to probe the allegations. Akhar Hussain, a resident of Chak 30-JB, told newsmen that his nephew Muhammad Nabeel, a student of grade nine at Government Qadriya Sirajia High School, went to school on Friday after seeking a leave on Thursday.

He said his teacher Manzoor Hussain Baloch asked him the reason for his absence. He said Nabeel told him he had requested a leave which had been sanctioned.

Hussain said the teacher began beating the boy for “talking back.”

He said the teacher had first kicked and punched him and then used a stick to beat the boy.

He said Nabeel’s friends told him that several teachers gathered at the scene on hearing the commotion but no one intervened. He said after a while, the boy stopped breathing and then fainted.

He said the teacher continued to beat him even after he had fainted. He said later, the teachers called him.

He said Baloch had fled by the time he arrived.

Hussain said he took his nephew to a clinic and his condition was now stable.

Talking to newsmen, Headmaster Farhat Shah said Baloch had been reprimanded.

He said the school administration was trying to facilitate a settlement between Baloch and parents of the boy.

Sandal Bar police station house officer said a formal complaint of the incident had not been received. He said the police would take action if they received a complaint.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2014.