Student beaten for not paying fees in Rahim Yar Khan

Victim’s father moves court for justice, demands action against school staff

RAHIM YAR KHAN: An eight-year-old student was allegedly beaten and punished by a school principal and staff in Rahim Yar Khan’s Sadiqabad tehsil for failing to pay her fees on Thursday.

The victim’s father, Muhammad Ali, a resident of Sultan Town, submitted a writ petition in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Syed Azam Javed. He stated that his daughter, Aliza Batool, studied at a private school situated on Zor Kot Road.

He added that School Principal Shaheer Masood and Vice Principal Sohail called him and demanded three months’ fees for the period when school was closed for summer vacations. Ali said he went to the school to talk to the principal about the matter.

He added that when he reached the school, he saw that the accused principal and vice principal had made his daughter stand in the scorching heat as punishment.

The accused told the father that the student’s fees had not been paid and that was the reason for her punishment. “When we told them that the Lahore High Court chief justice has barred schools from collecting fees during vacations, the accused started misbehaving with me.” He alleged that the school official slapped and beat his daughter. He said the principal called the security guards who misbehaved with him and pushed them out of the school premises.

The father said the principal had also expelled Aliza from the school.

The complainant requested the court to take action against the school principal and staff. While acting on the complaint, the judge sought a report from the City police station on October 8.

Recently, a man posing as a schoolteacher, brutally assaulted a girl student for leaving the classroom in Rahim Yar Khan. Officials said Muhammad Arshad, a teacher at a government training school in Sadiqabad, sent his younger brother Muhammad Asif to teach students in his place.

During the lesson, Asif brutally beat Seher Bibi for leaving the classroom. The accused hit her with a stick which resulted in injuries to her body and head. The victim suffered a serious injury to the head and fainted as a result. However, instead of shifting the injured student to the hospital, the teacher threw her outside the school. Later, local residents informed the victim’s family who took her to the Civil Hospital for medical treatment.