CAIRO, Dec 25: An Egyptian court on Thursday jailed a teacher for six years for kicking a schoolboy to death after he failed to do his homework, a court official said.

Mathematics teacher Haitham Nabil Abdel Hamid was convicted of manslaughter after kicking 11-year-old Islam Amro Badr in the stomach in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria in October.

The boy fainted and died shortly after in hospital, with several students saying they saw Abdel Hamid kick Badr.

A coroner testified in court that Badr had four broken ribs, Egypt’s Al-Masry al-Yom newspaper reported earlier this week, amid emotional scenes in court from the boy’s family.

The teacher’s lawyer was quoted as saying that, “Hitting (a child) is not banned in schools and my client did not break the law.”—AFP

Editorial

Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...
31 Jul, 2026

Expanding conflict

WITH neither of the belligerents willing to back down, and the theatre of conflict expanding geographically, the...
31 Jul, 2026

Spoils and spats

A FIGHT over assembly seats in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has laid bare what seem to be some deep resentments between ...
31 Jul, 2026

Unfair tax system

THE disclosure that the FBR collected nearly Rs1.9tr in sales and income taxes through electricity bills over the...