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Beating lands madrassa boy on deathbed

By Shafiq Sharif

LAHORE: A 14-year-old madrasa student has been hospitalised and is in serious condition after being thrashed by his teacher, the teacher’s brother and the teacher’s son.

The issue was a minor one; the student told the cleric’s son not to enter his room with his shoes on. The victim has been identified as Muhammad Zahid, a resident of Muzaffargarh district. The cleric’s brother’s name is Umer and son’s name is Abu Bakar. The victim’s brother, Muhammad Shahid, told Daily Times on Friday that his brother and he studied from Qari Suleman in Umer Farooq Madrassa near Doctor’s Hospital.

He said that the cleric’s son entered his brother’s room with his shoes on, on which his brother asked the cleric’s son to take his shoes off. “This infuriated Abu Bakar, who beat my brother up. Umer also came in the room and smashed my brother’s head against the wall several times and stamped on his face about a dozen times. They beat him mercilessly. The next day the cleric came to know about the incident and started beating my brother up. He thrashed him as if he were an animal. My brother was seriously shaken up, but could stand straight. He went to Jinnah Hospital, but doctors told him he was okay.”

Jinnah Hospital House Officer Dr Khalid said, “Muhammad Zahid was brought to hospital by his relatives about a week ago. He ran a high fever. We didn’t know about the beating. We came to know about the incident three days ago. By then Muhammad Zahid’s condition worsened because of the blows to the head and he could not breathe.”

The victim’s father, Muhammad Khan, said he could not afford a good school and therefore was forced to send his children to a madrasa. “It is my fault that my son is in this condition. I haven’t contacted the police because I know they won’t do anything,” he added.

Daily Times tried to contact Qari Suleman, but he did not answer his cell phone.

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