Ahmad, one of the neighbours, told The Express Tribune that her feet had been engulfed in flames and she had fainted. PHOTO: FILE
An exorcist on Tuesday night burned the feet of an 11-year-old child in an attempt to exorcise “her demons”. Separately, a grade seven student in Dera Ghazi Khan was beaten up badly by his teacher for not bringing a book to class.
Police said that Amanullah, a daily wage worker in Chak 167-9L, Cheechawatni, Sahiwal, took his daughter Musarrat, 11, to Cheechawatni tehsil headquarters hospital on Friday. She had been feverish since last week. Doctors said she had typhoid fever.
On Tuesday, Amanullah’s neighbour Rasheed suggested he take Musarrat to a local cleric, Maulvi Sarfaraz, known for his healing powers, as she had been “uttering nonsense” and was delirious.
Maulvi Rasheed told Amanullah that his daughter was being “tormented by demons”. He said that he would exorcise the evil spirit for Rs1,500 fee.
Amanullah said that he left his daughter with the maulvi. He said the maulvi said he would “save her soul using his jinns and by reading from the Quran”. “Saving the soul” however meant severe beatings for Musarrat. The maulvi then poured kerosene on her feet and set them alight.
Upon hearing the child’s screams, several neighbours entered Maulvi Rasheed’s house and saw the girl’s feet on fire. Ahmad, one of the neighbours, told The Express Tribune that her feet had been engulfed in flames and she had fainted.
Maulvi Rasheed managed to flee from the scene. The neighbours took the girl to Cheechawatni THQ hospital and her informed father.
Doctors at the hospital told The Express Tribune that the girl was in a critical condition. They said the fire had done great damage to her feet and she would have to undergo surgery at Nishter Hospital, Multan, in a month once her condition became stable.
Amanullah filed a complaint against Maulvi Rasheed with the Ghazi Abad Police. Residents of the area helped the police hunt him down and arrested him on Wednesday. Police said that Maulvi Rasheed told them that he was beating the evil spirit and trying to exorcise it through her feet. “The only other way possible was to burn her head but that would have killed her,” he said.
Beaten black and blue
A public school teacher beat up a student for not bringing a ‘guide’ book to school in a nearby village on Wednesday. Saeed Ahmad Nusrat, an elementary school teacher of the Ahmadani Government High School, some 50 kilometres away from Dera Ghazi Khan, allegedly beat up Mustafa Arqam, a student of grade seven, for not purchasing a guide book.
The student was apparently beaten up so badly that he had to be taken to a nearby basic health unit for treatment.
DG Khan Education EDO Aizaz Joiya suspended the teacher and directed Assistant Education Officer Mushtaq Ahmad Khan to enquire into the case. Khan visited the school and recorded the statements of other teachers and students.
He is yet to submit a report on the incident. The student’s uncle Muhammad Younas has also filed a complaint with the police. Joiya told The Express Tribune that there will be an unbiased inquiry into the incident. Strict action will be taken against the teacher according to the AEO’s recommendations, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2014.
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