BAHAWALNAGAR: Police claimed to have arrested a prayer leader on Wednesday for allegedly shaving and injuring the heads of five of the children who learned the Holy Quran from him at a mosque at Basti Anoka.

A Madrassa police station official said Imran of Qadirabad village, who was the prayer leader at a mosque at Basti Anoka, would also teach the Holy Quran to about 50-60 children there.

On July 29, two of the students -- Abdullah (11) and Saifullah (8) – returned home from the mosque with their heads injured and shaved. On being asked by their parents, they revealed that their Quran tutor, Imran, shaved their heads with a razor and left them injured in the process.

When the parents, along with some other locals, reached the mosque, they found Imran shaving the heads of some other students, including Gulab Ali (11), Faizan (8) and Ali Usman (7), with a razor and injuring them.

The parents and locals protested Imran’s conduct and reported the matter to the police.

The police arrested the prayer leader and registered a case against him.

Quoting Imran, the police said he believed that the children receiving religious education should not have long hair.

MINOR RAPED: A boy has been arrested for raping and injuring a six-year-old girl in a private housing society here on Wednesday.

According to the FIR registered with the Saddar police, Uzma of Sheikhupura district visited her friend Umme Kulsum, residing in a private housing scheme in Bahawalnagar, along with her 12-year-old son ‘D’ and two younger children, three days ago.

It said that on July 29, when Kulsum went back to her bedroom to sleep late at night, she could not find her six-year-old daughter ‘A’ in the room.

When the family searched for the girl, they heard her crying in a room. Upon opening the room’s door, they found ‘D’ was raping the girl, who was bleeding.

The minor girl was shifted to the hospital for treatment, while the boy was handed over to the police for investigation. A case was yet to be registered.

ARRESTED: A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly unleashing his pet dog on a boy, who was left injured in the attack at Shehar Farid.

The FIR registered with the Shehar Farid police says that one Shahbaz kept an aggressive pet dog that would attack everyone. Despite repeated requests by the neighbours to keep the dog chained, Shehbaz would leave it unchained.

It added that on July 28, Shahbaz unleashed his dog on 13-year-old Samar Ali, son of a neighbour. The dog bit the boy on his right leg, leaving him badly injured.

The boy was rescued by passersby, who rushed him to the hospital.

On receiving a complaint by Samar’s father, the police arrested Shahbaz and registered a case against him.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2025