ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of brutal torture on a 10-year-old boy in Sheikhupura, Punjab, by a local cleric.
The victim identified as Zohaib was reportedly thrashed by a prayer leader of a mosque for allegedly stolen a few rupees from the mosque.
Following the incident, Zohaib’s father, who is a labourer by profession, visited Police Station Saddar Shaikhupura to file an FIR against the accused but the officials ousted him by refusing to register the case.
Taking notice of the matter, the top judge has issued notices to DPO Shaikhupura, directing him to appear in court on August 7 along with officials of the said police station.
The incidents of torturing the minor students at seminaries is a common practice in Pakistan. On July 31,
an eight-year-old girl was tortured and hanged with a rope, a weird act of punishment, for going out of a class without permission by a cleric of a religious seminary at Qadir Pur Raan in Multan.
In May, an 11-year-old boy was beaten and tortured by a cleric for not learning his lesson at a religious seminary in Vehari District. The cleric named Qari Muhammad Fayyaz shaved off the boy’s head after beating him mercilessly.
