A madrassa school teacher in Pakistan has been charged with torturing a blind student to death for not learning his lessons.
A madrassa is an Islamic religious school. When the regular schooling system doesn’t reach out to the poor, they make do with madrassas which provide some rudimentary education. They are also considered responsible for instilling fanaticism in Muslim youth, especially in countries like Pakistan.Qari Ziauddin of the Qari Latif Madrassa in Union Council-1, in Vehari in the Punjab province severely beat up the seven-year-old blind Atif and then tied up his feet with a ceiling fan hook. Hung upside down, the boy died after some time and his family found marks of severe beating on his body, Dawn newspaper reports.
Qari Ziauddin escaped but he was arrested from Luddan.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Akram Niazi said that the initial post-mortem report confirmed that the death was caused by severe torture.
Atif’s mother and grandmother quoted fellow students as saying that the teacher had locked the boy in a room.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed sorrow and concern over the incident and ordered an inquiry.
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