Punjab minister visits Hunain's family, promises to introduce legislation against corporal punishment
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Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas on Friday said that it was important to introduce legislation to end corporal punishment after he paid a visit to the house of Hafiz Hunain Bilal, a 17-year-old who was allegedly beaten to death by his teacher.
"[We] will have to pass laws in the assembly in order to put an end to such incidents," he said. "We will introduce laws that would require teachers to obtain a license [before entering the profession] just like doctors."
Hunain was a 17-year-old student at the American Lycetuff school in Lahore and died on Thursday after allegedly being tortured by his teacher because he "failed to memorise his lesson", police had said while quoting the victim's classmates.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against the teacher, school's principal and the administration on the complaint of Hunain's father. The teacher was arrested yesterday soon after the incident and the boy's body was shifted to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination. The principal of the school was also arrested later in the day.
"The school principal and administration had been mentally torturing my son for the past few days over non-payment of school fees which was deposited today," the FIR quoted the father as saying.
The FIR added that the teacher "punched [Hunain] repeatedly, grabbed his hair and hit his head against the wall, all the while yelling at him". As a result, the boy collapsed in the classroom and died, added the report.
It also emerged that the teacher had beaten students in the past and was fired, but returned six months later. The school, however, has not issued any statement on the incident.
Raas, after his visit to Hunain's house today, promised Hunain's family that he would follow the case personally and also directed the area's Station House Officer (SHO) Amjad to ensure that strict action is taken against the culprits.
"I don't have words to [describe] the brutality," he told reporters. "To take the life of a child over a small thing is baffling."
He said that an FIR had been registered against the teacher and the school franchise. The minister explained that the school had not been sealed because the education of the children enrolled there would have suffered.
