KARACHI: A cleric who had allegedly beaten an eight-year-old to death at a seminary in the Bin Qasim Town area of the city on January 21 was handed over to police on a three-day physical remand by the district and session courts on Tuesday.
Earlier, Qari Najmuddin, who had allegedly subjected Mohammed Hussain – the eight-year-old pupil – to corporal punishment in the past as well, was pardoned by the family of the victim.
While the cleric was taken into custody, the victim’s parents were reluctant to press charges and even refused to get a post-mortem examination done on the child’s body.
According to SHO Dhani Bux Marri, the young student owing to the physical abuse had run away from the seminary earlier, but his parents brought him back on Sunday. When the child tried to flee again, Qari Najmuddin got hold of him and allegedly beat him to death with a blunt weapon.
Although the family had refused, the police had registered a case against the cleric on behalf of the state under Section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code, as corporal punishment is prohibited in Sindh, owing to a law passed by the provincial assembly in February 2017.
