Faisalabad bullying case: Boy killed classmate over ‘homophobic slur’

Rizwan Ahmed has been sent to juvenile jail on a 14-day judicial remand for beating Ahsan to death.

FAISALABAD:

A seventh-grade student was sent to a juvenile jail in Faisalabad on Saturday after confessing to the fatal beating of his classmate. Rizwan Ahmad, 12, admitted to the crime, saying he did it in response to homophobic slurs uttered against him.

Judicial Magistrate Chiniot Sheikh Maqsood Ahmad has sent Rizwan to Borstal Jail Faisalabad on a 14-day judicial remand on the charge of killing Muhammad Ahsan on Friday.

According to reports, Ahsan was continuously bullied by Rizwan and his uncle Zafar, who also happened to be the physical training instructor of their school, the Government High School in Chiniot district.

According to Ahsan’s father Sarfraz, his son was a bright student and was admired by his fellow students and teachers. He added that, out of envy, Rizwan repeatedly tortured Ahsan, in connivance with his uncle. Zafar would often reprimand and bully Ahsan on arbitrary pretexts in school, Sarfraz had alleged.

Rizwan, on the contrary, claimed he was subjected to verbal abuse at the hands of Ahsan, which ‘built up resentment and caused depression’. Investigation Officer (IO) sub inspector Yar Muhammad told to the court that Rizwan claimed the deceased would often utter derogatory remarks implying he was a homosexual in front of his classmates.

“Because I was good looking and the pretty one, out of jealousy, Ahsan used to call me ‘gay’,” the officer quoted Rizwan as saying in a recorded statement. Recalling Friday’s incident, Rizwan said, that Ahsan once again abused him and as a result “out of sheer frustration I punched his face and kicked his stomach repeatedly, and might have hit him in his private parts which caused his death”.

The officer further told the court that PT teacher Zafar’s role in the murder is yet to be determined and evidence, in this regard, is being collected. Zafar is said to have escaped soon after the incident on Friday.

Cause of death

A preliminary investigation report was submitted before the court, which stated that “the cause of death is yet to be determined as no visible injuries have been found on the body of the deceased”.

Dr Khalid Mahmood Wala, who conducted the postmortem, told The Express Tribune that no visible signs of injuries were found on the body, except a minor wound on the genitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2011.