VEHARI: Police got a six-year-old boy freed from a seminary in Mitro Town of Mailsi tehsil on Sunday where he was found chained.

On a tip-off, Mitro police raided seminary Hassan Bin Sabit in Mitro Town and found six-year-old Farooq chained there. They freed him and arrested the seminary in-charge, Shaukat Ali, and the father of the minor, Shahid Iqbal.

Mitro Station House Officer Rana Akram claimed Farooq’s father had taken him to the seminary and got him chained there. He told Dawn that police registered a case against Ali and Iqbal under Section 342 of PPC.

Ali claimed that the boy was not interested in studying the madressah and wanted to go to a government school. He added that Farooq’s family had him chained because he used to run away from the seminary.

Farooq, a resident of nearby Balo Shah Colony, said that he had been chained in the seminary for six days. The child was handed over to his family later.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2019