Corporal punishment: Cleric accused of assaulting minors

The boys were gagged, beaten up for being late to class.

MULTAN:

A cleric is accused of beating two children for arriving late for their classes on Sunday.

Complainant Manzoor Ahmad said he sent his sons Zubair, 5, and Abu Bakar, 6, to the mosque for daily prayers and to Quran.

He said on Sunday, the boys got late. Their teacher, Maulvi Ehsan, was enraged.

Ahmad said Ehsan tied up his sons, gagged them and beat them as punishment.

Ahmad said when his sons did not return at the usual time, he went to investigate. Ahmad met Zohaib, a son of his sons playing on the street. When he inquired about his sons, he was told that they were still at the mosque and were being punished for being late. Ahmed said the morning class was supposed to end at 6.30 am. He reached the mosque around 8 am.



He said when he entered the mosque, he saw his sons being beaten. Ahmad intervened and upon seeing the conditions of his sons, took them to Cheechawatni Tehsil Headquarters Hospital for treatment. Ahmad said when he came back, the Eshan had fled. He approached the police and organised a protest in front of Cheechawatni Press Club.

SHO Saeed Ahmed told The Express Tribune that the police had raided three places to find the cleric but he was still at large. He said the police were still awaiting the medical reports of the two boys. He said an FIR against Ehsan had not been lodged and the cleric was on the run.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2013.