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Boy's Spanking at Karachi School Sends Shockwaves
Most schools in Pakistan still appear to take the antediluvian philosophy of "spare the rod and spoil the child", as a majority of teachers prefers to have a stick in hand and to be quite hard at students. Unfortunately, the few voices ever raised against corporal punishment in schools appear to have gone unheeded, and teachers continue to wield the stick to terrorize the students with impunity. Ashar, a six-year-old class I student, victim of corporal punishment by the school principal, has been admitted to the Aga Khan Hospital in a critical condition.The boy's father, Mohammad Ashraf, a Karachi Electric Supply Corp. (KESC) employee, said that it was like a nightmare and his whole family was still traumatized. He said that after the tragedy he ran from pillar to post but no one would listen or help him out. He said that his son's only fault was that he had missed the school transport one day and walked home instead. When the boy's father took up the matter with the principal, the latter assured him that he would teach his son a "good lesson", so that he would never miss the school transport in future. The father did not know what was coming, until the next day. The principal called the little boy to his office and closed the door. A school clerk, Saqib, held the arms of the boy, while the principal relentlessly lashed him on the back and buttocks with a wire. The principal later took off the shirt of the boy and paraded him before the whole school, so that others may learn a lesson, the boy's father said. The boy also received head injuries as the principal had hit his head with a sharp glass object. Asked if the police and other authorities were cooperating with him, Ashraf said that the police were not helpful as the accused principal was still to be arrested. He said that after the brutal thrashing of his son, other students were too shocked to go to school. On Saturday evening a protest rally was held outside the Karachi Press Club and it was attended by human rights activists and students from different schools. Posted by: Fred 2005-03-14 |
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