HYDERABAD, Jan 10: A 14-year-old boy, the victim of corporal punishment, died here at the Civil Hospital on Thursday.

Mudassar Aslam’s health didn’t improve after two successive intestinal surgeries.

The boy was severely punished by his schoolteacher at a government school in November past year.

He was laid to rest amid tears in a local graveyard.

He was resident of Sarfaraz colony, located behind Civil Hospital Hyderabad.

“He was admitted to the hospital’s kidney ward where he died in the morning,” the visibly shocked father, Mohammad Aslam, told Dawn outside his home.

The boy had undergone intestinal surgeries at Civil Hospital after falling victim to the corporal punishment by his teacher on Nov 21 past year.

He was admitted in the surgical unit-3 of Liaquat University Hospital after having being operated upon by registrar Dr Bilal Rasool twice.

The class-IV student of Government Himayat-ul-Islam High School in Tilak incline had to be taken to a hospital when he complained of excessive vomiting and severe abdominal pain.

“My teacher, Buland Iqbal had beaten me with stick and asked two other students to tie my hands. He made me to sit and stand up for around 100 times which caused me pain in my belly,” he had told Dawn on December 5 in the hospital.

“When I asked school headmaster to allow me to leave as I was suffering pain in my belly, he refused. I then left the class without intimation in sixth period,” frail Mudassar had then said.

“My brother’s abdomen was apparently developing a shape of a balloon,” his brother said.

When his condition improved a little bit he was brought back home but was again admitted to hospital the same night.

Mudassar’s father is a daily wage worker and works in a banana orchard of Thatta district. He lost his job as he failed to report to his employer.

According to doctors his intestine had jumbled and had turned blackish.

After the matter was reported in media Executive District Officer, Education Professor Anwar Siddiqui had suspended Buland Iqbal and asked district officer secondary education Shahid Zaman to conduct an inquiry.

Surprisingly, the inquiry has remained incomplete as the inquiry officer couldn’t record the statement of boy’s parents.

“On Thursday when my wife complained to on duty doctor that her son is oozing some whitish liquid from his mouth doctor didn’t pay attention and said it normally happens. But when his condition deteriorated and nurse examined him he had lost his life by then,” the weeping father said.

The high schoolteacher had paid Rs15,000 to Aslam during the course of treatment in order to get a written statement from him to prove that boy was in fact suffering from some disease. Though he received the money, he refused to sign any paper. Buland Iqbal had used influence of some alleged ‘intelligence official’ for that.

The EDO said the inquiry report is yet to be submitted and he didn’t know whether the officer would suggest minor or major penalty.

He also confirmed that Aslam had sought his help for covering his medical expenses but such payment couldn’t be made by him as department doesn’t have such provision.