Corporal punishment: School principal arrested on assault charges against student in Lahore

A school principal in the Factory Area of Lahore has been arrested and a case has been registered after he was accused of assaulting a student, according to police.

Following instructions from SP Cantt Owais Shafiq, Factory Area Police acted on a complaint received through the emergency helpline 15.

The complaint was filed by Raheel Anwar, the father of the victim, against the accused, Rana Israr.

SP Cantt Owais Shafiq stated that strict action would be taken against those who take the law into their own hands, emphasising that individuals who abuse children are not deserving of any leniency.

The FIR detailed that the victim, Tabail Raheel, a ninth-grade student at a private school, was brutally assaulted by Principal Rana Israr on September 20 without any reason, leaving the boy in a critical condition.

He was rushed to General Hospital for medical treatment.

The father further alleged that the principal severely beat his son on his back, arms, shoulders, and sensitive areas, leaving visible marks.

He called for legal action against the principal, demanding exemplary punishment and the cancellation of the school's license.

Despite the passage of the ‘Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill,’ which bans all forms of corporal punishment in formal and informal educational institutions, seminaries, childcare institutions and juvenile rehabilitation centres, teachers in Pakistan still engage in the archaic and ineffecive practice.