Public schools: Landlord humiliates headmistress

Beats, abuses her in front of students, staff for stopping him from ‘playing volleyball’ on school premises.

FAISALABAD:

The Loundianwala police on Wednesday arrested a man on the complaint of a government school headmistress for abusing, humiliating and beating her in front of school staff and students.

Sughran Bai, the Government Girls High School Chak 998/9 headmistress, said in her complaint that Khalil Ahmad, a local landlord, had set up an outhouse adjacent to the school.

She said that his workers had placed bull carts and fodder pots in front of the school causing inconvenience for the students and teachers.  She said she complained to him about the smell from the hay and cattle waste, but he didn’t bother.

She said he later occupied some of the land on the school premises and started using it was a volley ball court. She said his workers would gather there and disrupt school activities and bother female students.

She said when he did not remove the net despite several requests, she had it removed by school staff.

She told the police that when the landlord came to know about it, he and two of his accomplices gathered the students and the staff on the school ground and beat her up in front of them. She said his two accomplices held her while he repeatedly slapped and kicked her. She said he also abused her and threatened to kill her if she continued to ‘bother him.’

She said he also warned the staff to stay away and threatened them with dire consequences in case they did not.

“I begged him to let me go, but he would not stop hitting me,” she told the police.

She said she told him to seek permission from the Education Department if he wanted to set up a court on the land. She said protecting the students and the school was her responsibility.

Saleem, a staff member, and a witness to the incident, said, “He abused her and hit her.” Later, he said, some of the male staff calmed him down and persuade him to let her go.

Loundianwala police on Wednesday registered a case against Khalil under Sections 452, 345, 346, 186 and 167 of the Pakistan Penal Code on charges of trespass, causing hurt, wrongful confinement and obstructing an official in performance of duty.

Sughran Bibi said that she was being pressured by Khalil’s men to withdraw the complaint. She said she feared for the students and school property.

She appealed to the chief minister and the Police Department to provide security at school and order the removal of the encroachments by the landlord.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2011.