A classmate of 14-year-old Farhan, who was allegedly beaten to death by his madrassah (seminary) teachers earlier this week in Swat’s Chaliyar village, has shared harrowing details of the last moments of the boy’s life.
The classmate said that Farhan was made to bend down while holding his ears from 2 pm onwards as a punishment. “Then, Qari Bakht Ameen began beating him with a stick. He was later joined by four more individuals in the violence.”
“When the boy became weak, madrassah administrator Farooq locked him in a room where he was beaten again. The torture was so severe that the stick broke. The child kept writhing in pain; his hands and feet had gone numb. After some time, when he regained consciousness, he was again forced to hold his ears. In the evening, in a trembling voice, he asked me for water. As soon as I gave him some, he took his last breath.”
Farhan’s classmate revealed the details of the tragedy in Pushto which were translated by journalist Harmeet Singh into Urdu, and the video was shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday.
What did Farhan’s uncle say
A leading English newspaper quoted Farhan’s uncle Saddar Ayaz as saying that when his nephew came home, he showed fear about going back to the madrassah and did not want to return.
“I took him to the seminary myself, handed him over to the teachers, and went back,” Ayaz said, adding, “Later that evening, one of the teachers called me and told me that my nephew had fallen in the toilet and died.”
According to the police, the 14-year-old student was shifted to the nearest hospital by students and teachers; however, doctors declared him dead upon arrival.
Meanwhile, authorities have sealed the madrassah and returned its other students to their parents, District Police Officer (DPO) Omar said on Wednesday.
DPO statements
Addressing a press conference in his office, flanked by Superintendent of Police (SP) (Investigation) Badshah Hazrat Khan, DPO Omar stated: “When we came to know of this incident, we also thought to check with the other students studying in the madrassah if there was any other case such as this or not. We sent our team to this madrassah and when statements were taken from the children, it was found out that some others had been subjected to violence as well.”
The DPO confirmed that police detained all madrassah staff upon receiving this information, with nine more having been held and a case registered on the police’s complaint under the Child Protection Act.
“Around 160 to 170 students were retrieved and we returned them safely to their families after contacting them and the madrassah was sealed,” he added.
Omar said investigations into any possible sexual assault were underway with samples taken, adding that the relevant section would be added to the First Information Report (FIR) on any confirmation.
The DPO claimed that there were four suspects nominated in the FIR and two were subsequently arrested, with teams established to locate and apprehend the others. “They will not be able to escape the law. We will arrest them as soon as possible,” he said of the absconding suspects.
Additionally, he said the items used to allegedly beat and bind the student were also recovered.
According to the KP Child Protection and Welfare Act of 2010 and its 2018 regulations, corporal punishment is considered a criminal offence and can lead to a penalty of up to six months in jail, a fine of Rs50,000, or both.
