ISLAMABAD:
All it took for young Aneeta Shaheen to get a beating was for the class monitor to write her name on the blackboard. The class teacher, in a fit of rage, beat Shaheen mercilessly and ended up breaking her shoulder.
Federal Government Girls Higher Secondary School Jagiot in Nau Gazi village, was where Mrs Saeeda, the class teacher, thrashed the child, allegedly for creating noise in the classroom.
“Before she choked me, she kept hitting me with a very thick stick until I started crying and fell on the floor,” Shaheen told The Express Tribune. The thirteen-year-old said Mrs Saeeda also forbade other students from giving her water no matter how much she begged for it.
“She just said let her die,” said Shaheen. In spite of a fracture, she made it to her maternal uncle’s home on her own. She was taken to Polyclinic Hospital, where the initial medical examination confirmed that her shoulder was fractured and she had multiple beating marks on her body.
Shaheen said she would never dare to misbehave with her teacher. “I do not know what made her so angry,” said the girl, adding, “The girl she asked to control the class while she was out does not like me.”
The monitor put the names of students who were making noise on the board but removed all except Shaheen’s before the teacher’s return. She told the teacher that only Shaheen was creating trouble in the class. On this, the teacher picked a stick and started beating her.
“I was doing my work and not creating any trouble. My classmates can verify this. I kept telling the teacher that I did nothing wrong but she never listened to me,” said Shaheen.
The girl’s family opted to go to the police for help. They first approached the Bani Gala police, who referred them to the Women Police Station. They filed an application for registering an FIR against the teacher for torturing the girl, but she is yet to be booked.
“I do not know why the police did not register the case despite seeing the girl’s condition and the initial medical report,” said Zubair Khan, the girl’s maternal uncle. He said they went to see the Women Police Station House Officer (SHO) Sadaf Basharat, but she kept them waiting for a long time.
Basharat told The Express Tribune that they are waiting for the detailed medical report before registering an FIR.
“We have no other evidence to base the case on. The medical report, which is due on Monday, will tell us what section of the law would apply,” said the SHO. However, she said the police started investigating after the case was reported. A police team was dispatched to the village to ascertain the facts and collect evidence, she said.
Shaheen’s uncle said Mrs Saeeda sent her husband and two other schoolteachers for reconciliation. They offered the family Rs2,000, which was promptly returned. “She did not even have the courage to come apologise herself,” said Khan.
He said the teacher and the principal of the school were contacted before the family went to the police, but they did not bother to give any attention then.
As her relatives scramble to get justice for her, Shaheen, with one arm wrapped in a bandage, is still determined to go back to school, but without risking any more physical harm.
Mrs Saeeda could not be reached as her phone was powered off.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
COMMENTS (2)
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Has physical violence in this country has become so commonplace that the teacher did not have any fear of retribution before even picking up the stick, never mind fear of God You have to hit someone pretty hard and severely to actually cause a fracture. The authorities are even worse -SHO Sadaf Basharat did not need a medical report to go and make an arrest -what kind of procedural excuse is that?That is no more than institutional laziness. And to add insult to injury Mrs Saeeda thought she could just hush up the matter with a little money and indrect apology. Why did not the principal of the school whose responsibility is to the students did not order the arrest and immediate dismissal of Mrs Saeeda? Did he/ she bother to investigate and punish and deal with the monitor girl appropriately ? Or did the real culprit as is so often the case in Pakistan get off scott free? At least the girl's relatives have the guts to seek redress while the shameful cowardice of the authorities speaks for itself.
Why aren't all the parents of the girl's class forming a procession outside the teacher's house right now to demand that she come out to apologize to the student in front of them and also demand her resignation? This kind of mad violent behaviour in schools is not just the fault of the school administration but of the sissy, wimpy parents who are so afraid and powerless that they never stand up for the rights of their children!