Schoolyard bullying proved fatal in a government school near Faisalabad with the brutal murder of a seventh-grade student on Friday.
Muhammad Ahsan was beaten to death allegedly by a classmate and his uncle, who also happened to be the physical training instructor of Government High School in Chiniot district.
District Police Officer (DPO) Chiniot Shehzad Akbar confirmed the incident, identifying the culprits as Ahsan’s class fellow Muhammad Rizwan and teacher Zafar Ahmed.
Friday’s incident was not the first: Ahsan had been preyed upon before by Rizwan and Zafar – but the last of these incidents proved fatal, according to a complaint lodged by Ahsan’s father Muhammad Sarfraz, a resident of resident of Chak No147-JB.
According to Sarfraz, his son was a bright student and was admired by his fellow students and teachers. He added that, out of envy, Rizwan, who belongs to the same village as them, repeatedly tortured Ahsan, in connivance with his uncle, who was part of the school’s faculty.
Zafar would often reprimand and bully Ahsan on arbitrary pretexts during drill exercise periods, Sarfraz alleged.
He further complained that they had informed the headmaster of the school as well as the class in-charge of the PT teacher’s inappropriate attitude, yet no action was taken.
Instead, Ahsan faced intensified confrontation once Zafar and Rizwan learnt of the complaint.
Ironically, this increased bullying ultimately led to Ahsan’s death.
The details, as narrated by Ahsan’s father, are heart-wrenching.
Sarfraz alleged that Rizwan intercepted Ahsan at noon on Friday and abused and slapped him in the presence of a number of other students, to ‘teach him a lesson’ over the complaint made to the headmaster. Zafar, it is claimed, joined in on the beating, and the two are alleged to have punched and kicked Ahsan even after he had fallen unconscious.
Meanwhile, DPO Akbar said, Sarfraz arrived at the school on Friday to inform the headmaster about the latest incidents against his son, only to witness the incident.
When Sarfraz rushed to his son, he had already breathed his last.
The PT teacher told the headmaster and relatives of the deceased that the child died due to cardiac arrest.
Earlier reports suggested that Zafar had taken Ahsan to the hospital and escaped afterwards.
Classmate arrested
Rajoiya Sayeda police have registered a case under sections 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Rizwan and Zafar.
SHO Rajoiya Sayeda Khalid Rasheed told The Express Tribune that Rizwan has been arrested while the raids are being conducted to arrest Zafar, who is still at large.
The body has been sent to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Chiniot for postmortem to determine the cause of death as well as nature of injuries, the SHO added.
A special team has been constituted to probe into Ahsan’s murder and determine the positions of the culprits who mercilessly tortured the schoolboy to death.
Villagers, family protest
Soon after the incident, hundreds of villagers and Ahsan’s relatives, carrying the deceased’s body, staged a demonstration and blocked the Faisalabad-Sargodha Road.
On the assurance of the police, the demonstrators dispersed peacefully.
(Read: Corporal punishment - Spare the rod, spoil the child?)
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2011.
COMMENTS (30)
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@A Rehman: You are extremely misinformed. Bullying exists, yes, in all schools. No, it doesn't frequently make headlines in the West. Never once in my entire life have I ever seen or heard of a teacher tag teaming a little kid with another child or even doing it alone. Just because it's called bullying doesn't mean they're even on the same planet as each other in severity and insanity. A kid pushing another kid or calling them names, yeah, that's common bullying as kids have a habit of being cruel from lack of understanding of what their own actions effect. In the US there have been 2, maybe 3 publicized school shootings in at least 25 years. A teacher physically harming a student results in a teacher, after the very first time, losing their job and never working as a teacher anywhere in the country ever again. They would also be in jail if the child's parents wanted to take it to court. But, even without the court being involved they would literally need to change their name and make other efforts to cover it up before a school would even think of hiring them. Not only for moral reasons but also the school would be liable to one hell of a law suit due to knowing of the danger and they would lose very quickly.
All of that is only a small part of what I could be saying. I could go on much longer if I so desired. Why don't you guys stop projecting on the rest of the world? Face it, you've got a circus going on and no, you don't react to it like most other countries would. Pakistan in matters of rights and tolerance for cruelty/harming others is not even remotely comparable to most western nations to the extent that if you suddenly feel the urge to compare them, don't. Try learning about some of those countries. It will become painfully clear very quickly just how different the things are that happen in Pakistan. If all you've got is "someone somewhere else did it so it's nothing big" for your justification, you might finally be left with no choice but to actually take responsibility for your own situation and change something for real.
@Uzair - I suggest you read my comment again and save the histrionics for another day. You're talking like a politician or (at best) a secondary-school debate team member, all superficial drama/dialogue/verbal flourishes. Read the comment again when you next take a break from self-flagellation.
In case you have genuinely misunderstood my fairly simple comment, here's a primer: 1. People should stop making EVERY issue a ''Hai hai Pakistan is so bad'' issue. Bullying is unfortunately a rather common phenomenon all over the western world, so the negative light people are trying to cast over all of Pakistan in light of this terrible incident is not justified. 2. If you're really so sick of your own country, leave. If you already live elsewhere, kindly refrain from badmouthing my country and turn your attention to your own adopted homeland. 3. Handwringing, badmouthing, and moaning will not make things better. Concrete proposals, concerned citizens, and community-based efforts are required to improve things, whether it's for raising awareness/formulating legislation re: bullying, spreading non-Madrassah educational options among the poor, enforcing the rule of law etc etc, the list is endless.
Please note there is no ''holier than thou'' Pakistan in my comment but neither is their a ''mea culpa'' regarding bullying.
How you extrapolated to include Christians, lawyers, and murderers in this picture I have no idea.
@Proud Pakistani: What does england have to do with this? Nationalism makes one blind.
@Proud Pakistani: How dare you associate patriotism with, "Oh this happens in other countries". Please relate an incident in England where this happens more often?
@Sao Lao: Excellently and forcefully advised. Please accept my Salams.
Rest in Peace Ahsen. What a shame for us. i cant believe such a sub human treatment in our society. The culprits should be immediately taken off from our society, either hang them or behind the bars untill their souls departed to hell ( the place where they deserve most) .
@A Rehman: You are so right, we need to fix USA and rest of the world before worrying about ourselves, we are perfect right? NO Christians get burnt alive, Provincial Governors are not shot in broad daylight with the killer feted as a hero by most puritans, and in general everything is perfect! Thanks for making us see the light good sir!
Instead of tripping over your feet to condemn your own country remember this: bullying is widespread in your beloved western hemisphere, where it regularly makes tragic headlines. Peer pressure is also more intense, owing to generally weaker family ties and greater 'freedom,' which again leads to all sorts of problems both in and out of school. Finally, school shootings/violence is a sad but not uncommon occurrence in the west as well.
For starters, punish all those involved, make sure legal safeguards are in place, set up a body to monitor/conduct spot checks/encourage self reporting etc. Let's make things better here instead of indulging in unproductive mass hysteria and hand wringing.
@Ali: I persoanlly believe the reverse evolution (devolution?) is indeed occurring in Pakistan. Two factors: (a) Generations of cousin marriages MUST have reduced the genetic fitness and overall physical and mental condition of the average Pakistani. (b) Studies have shown that due to malnutrition during a mother's pregnancies and the child's early childhood the average IQ of Pakistanis is about 7 points less (if I remember correctly) than it would be otherwise. Shocking but true that our nation has indeed become "more stupid" as a result of factors which WE could have controlled i.e. not marrying our cousins (and first cousins no less!) and ensuring proper resources to everyone for which population control is vital.
there is no bigger menace than a cruel teacher...personal experience... some students are left with bodily scars, other sustain mental trauma..some,like poor Ahsan, end up dead..
RIP Ahsan.. Allah aap ko jannat aur ap k ghar walon ko sabr dai..ameen
Seriously, Pakistani society needs to be scientifically examined for any proof of reverse evolution. I mean, a seventh grader and his uncle beating another seventh grader to death for nothing but envy? Doesn't sound like something that belongs in human society.
Along with the two culprits being caught, tried and sentenced the Principal who never took action on the complaints should be suspended. If necessary there should be a code of behaviour for both students and teachers in schools.
This is terrible but I'm not surprised,teachers in Pakistan are really short tempered and have been beating children up for decades,as an American-born Pakistani I've studied in Pakistan and America and have noted some big differences between American and Pakistani teachers.
I was beaten many times in Pakistan when I was a kid for even making the smallest mistake,at first I couldn't believe that a teacher could hit a student but then I got used to it.
In America all of the teachers I've encountered have been really kind,I've never been hit by a teacher there,barely been yelled at,never been emotionally abused,never been called an idiot.
The teachers there were really supportive and motivating,they were also great at teaching and their teaching methods were far better than the ones in P'stan.
Although the teachers in America were really friendly,they were still strict,if you hurt somebody or made an offense they would punish you by making you sit out of recess or they make scrub the floors or walls,in high school you would be detention after school.
I'm really fed up with P'stan,I honestly have no hope for this Godforsaken nation,if you do then you must be overly patriotic,you're blinded by your love for this nation,but in the end it's going to hurt you.
Disgusting. The headmaster and class teacher are also to .be blamed
this will be normal news soon - like a Taliban society - just wait for the right wing to take over Pakistan.
monster teacher
What a tragedy? What kind of monsters are we turning into? Anyway to keep this matter alive through internet so that this unfortunate kid's case doesn't fall by the wayside?
I am expecting comments like Pakistan is no more and stuff from Pakistanis yet fact of the matter is this happens every where and in England it is much worse. SAY NO TO BULLYING
This kind bullying and murder springs from a bad family upbringing. Let's hope the PT instructor is thoroughly punished by the law. May ALLAH ALLMIGHTY rest the departed in eternal Paradise. Ameen. Salams to the bereaved family
Completely unacceptable! Everyone will now condemn this act, and rightly so, when it takes place in a government school or a madrassa. However, when similar acts take place in private schools, everyone jumps to defend their alma marta. This helps perpetuate the sense that physical abuse of children is in cases acceptable. Others take liberties and abuse their position as careers for children. It is morally questionable and legally unacceptable for a person in a children's environment to physically or emotionally abuse a child. Regardless of the circumstances. Whatever the case, its is never ever acceptable! And we should draw a line in the sand, so that no one has an iota of doubt, that it's the wrong thing to do, wherever, whenever and under-whatever circustances, period!
Disgusting......Its better not to have a future for Pakistan than having these monsters live with us.
Firstly, Those bullyers and teacher should be given maximum sentence i.e. multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. We don't want these kids to be running around the gully muhallas.
Secondly, Address the cause. Parent's Neglect, bad influence via media and other circumstances causing it.
Thirdly, Start Widespread anti-bullying campain
OH ma GOD !!! .... Are they Human beings ? treating a child like a donkey ..
heartbreaking news.