LAHORE/SIALKOT: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Thursday taking notice of maltreatment of some deaf children at Sambrial, ordered Punjab police inspector general to immediately depute two unarmed police personnel each on buses of all special education institutes transporting the students.

The chief justice passed the direction hearing a public interest petition at his GOR-I residence in the evening. Advocate Syed Miqdad Mehdi had filed the petition.

Barrister Sarah Belal represented the petitioner-lawyer and argued that boys and girls were subjected to assault in the bus carrying students of Daska Special Education Centre and its video also went viral on social media.

She said the bus conductors -- Muzammil and Mazhar -- pulled students’ hair and used abusive language against them. The counsel pleaded that special children got frightened due to the inhuman treatment.

The chief justice sought a report from the Punjab home secretary and the IGP on the incident and also summoned deputy commissioner and district police officer of Sialkot on the next hearing of the case.

The CJ ordered the DPO to examine the video footage of the incident and take appropriate action against the bus staff and submit a separate report to this effect on Dec 4.

Meanwhile, Punjab special education secretary has suspended from service the head of the institute for concealing physical torture and humiliation of deaf and dumb students at the hands of their bus conductors.

According to the FIR lodged at Sambrial police station on the report of Sub-Inspector Akhtar Hussain, the conductors subjected the students to brutal torture while they were traveling to the institute by the school bus.

After a footage of the incident went viral on social media, special education secretary suspended institute in charge Ms Riffat Jamil for concealing the incident.

The police arrested both the suspects and sent them behind the bars after registering a case.

Sialkot Deputy Commissioner Dr Farrukh Naveed has also ordered a departmental probe into the incident, appointing Additional Deputy Commissioner General Meesam Abbas as inquiry officer.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017