LAHORE: Students of American Lycetuff – a school in Gulshan-Ravi – attempted to set the school’s building on fire in protest over the killing of their classmate — Hafiz Hunain Bilal who was allegedly tortured to death by a school teacher.
Hunain’s classmates entered the school early on Saturday carrying petrol bottles and attempted to torch the building, managing only to inflame two rooms.
Police officials were quick to take notice of the act and managed to arrest some of the students. The fire brigade also managed to put out the fire before it could spread to other parts of the school.
Hunain, 17, died on Thursday as a result of being tortured by his teacher for “failing to memorize his lessons”.
The incident garnered widespread condemnation with’#JusticeForHunain’ doing rounds on Twitter since Thursday.
The teacher and the school’s principal were arrested on Thursday after a First Information Report (FIR) against them and members of the school administration was lodged by Hunain’s father.
The FIR claimed that the school principal and administration had been “mentally torturing Hunain” over non-payment of school fees and added that the assailant “punched [Hunain] repeatedly, grabbed his hair and hit his head against the wall, all the while yelling at him”.
On Friday Punjab’s Primary Education Minister Murad Raas assured the victim’s of family swift action against the culprits.