Tragic fall: Student’s death - police arrest teacher
The Civil Lines police on Tuesday arrested a teacher of a private school in the tragic death case of a seventh-grade student. The student, Mehr Ali, died after falling from the stairs of the Saint Mary’s Academy on September 19. The police registered FIR against Amir Elahi after Ali’s father Aamir Mirza, claimed that his son died owing to the punishment given to him by his teacher, a fact being concealed by the school administration.
Earlier, some class fellows of the student had also said that Ali was made to do squats after which Elahi asked him to fetch books from the first floor. The boy was already tired after the punishment and then he was made to climb the stairs, one of his classmates said.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines Raja Mussadaq confirmed the development saying that the FIR was registered on the complaint of the student’s father.
The SHO said police had inserted section 202 (concealing of a criminal act) and 316 (an action leading to the death of a person) of Pakistan Penal Code and would start their investigation from the teacher.
Earlier the family of the deceased had refused to carryout any legal proceedings against the teacher as the father of the boy was in England. Mirza on his return approached the police and got the criminal case registered against the teacher.
Mirza got the information from the fellow students that Ali was made to 50 squats. Right after that, he was made to climb the stairs. As he was climbing he fell from the eighth steps and got his spinal cord damaged.
A close relative of the boy informed The Express Tribune that the father of the deceased had to face a lot of problem in getting the case registered as the school was private and its administration was influential.
The principal of the school Patras Bhatti had called the death an accident saying that the bulky boy could keep his balance. He had also said that the school administration was going to take action against the teacher he was found guilty, but according to sources no investigation had been conducted so far.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
COMMENTS (10)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Unbelievable! Only in Pakistan do people blame a minor, a child for his own death! Teh school has a responsibility towards the security, safety and welfare of the children!!! If something happens it is their responsbility!! It doest matter if the boy was "bulky" or not which is an unbelivable comment coming from a principal of a school!
Let's be honest to ourselves...If this was a Madrasah where a Molvi was involved such an incident, we would have ripped the whole Madrasah system and the Molvis...
It's certainly tragic to say the least.
This chain of events is perhaps an accident moreover the chances these combination of events to happen in such a sequence is very rare, however it is definitely linked to the punishment the kid got by the teacher.
Making Students do sit ups is a regular feature in our schools and perhaps for the teacher it was just another punishment. Having said that this case should drive the need for elimination of physical means of punishment in the schools.
@Amjad: i agree we need to give respect to teachers but at the same time we need to request teachers to treat children an human. A young child can't bear so much punishment so please "Hath hola rakho".
@ Mudassar Raja
It is not a mere tragic fall. So be clear and transparent in reporting.
@EoH:
Did you were made to squat before going to bring water? If no then it was a simple accident. But you are trying to play minority card here which is disgusting.
This school has backing of christian politicians and foreign elements. But criminal negligence should not be a thing which should be overlooked. Teacher should be given harsh punishment. And school should hire person with some degree of sanity.
Our media is just creating hype and fueling anti-Christian riots here.... Remember School is a missionary school.
I fell down from the stairs when I was in 3rd Class. My teacher sent me down to bring her water. My family didn't get the case registered against her! I think it is unlawful and immoral to arrest teacher under 202 and other section.
And, to our moral brigade, the juvenile witness is not admissible in court according to Islamic law.
These days parents send their children to school for enjoyment. Police should also arrest the motor way police who made some students do squats according to a news report.
Next thing they will arrest teachers if a student dies at home.
Silly case of a child falling. The child was asked to perform squats as punishment which is hardly oppressive. If he fell, it was a tragic accident. It's a shame that parents are allowed to register such silly cases with the police.