FAISALABAD, May 18: A 13-year-old boy set himself ablaze on Friday when his father reportedly refused to go with him to his school on the call of teachers. The boy later succumbed to his burns.

Umer, son of Khalid Pervaiz, of Bilal Town, went to his school (MC High School, Yasinabad) after a two-day absence. The teachers asked him to bring his father to the school to give reasons for his absence.

Umer returned home and requested his father to go with him to the school but the latter refused to accompany him to avoid embarrassment. The boy purchased kerosene from a grocery shop in the area and set himself ablaze.

Some people rushed to douse the fire and shifted the boy to Allied Hospital, where doctors declared eighty per cent burns.

Dr Muhammad Irfan told Dawn the boy was in a critical condition. He quoted the boy as saying he set himself ablaze because of his father’s refusal to accompany him to the school.

However, the boy changed his statement before a magistrate, Najam, who visited the hospital.

Umer told the magistrate his teachers would torture him.

Khalid, a heart patient, was in a state of shock after the incident.

The schoolteachers said they never beat up the boy who would often remain absent from the school without any reason. They said it was the duty of the teachers to inform parents about a student’s absence.

The education department has initiated an inquiry into the issue.

Shagufta Bibi, the mother of Umer, alleged the teachers especially the headmaster would torture the boy. On Friday, she said, Umer went to school but the teachers did not allow him to sit.

Meanwhile, after the death of the boy the Batal Colony police registered a case under section 504 and 506 of PPC against headmaster Ghulam Farid.