A primary school student at the Baghdad Institute of Al-Azhar in Beheira was beaten severely with a stick by his religion studies teacher for making a mistake while reciting a chapter from the Quran.
The student has a 10cm by 3cm bruise on his upper shoulder, a cut above the left eyebrow that had to be stitched, and another bruise on his left foot, according to a preliminary medical report.
"I hadn’t memorized the chapter well. When I made a mistake Mr. Abdel Rahman Hassan, the religion teacher, beat me with a stick on my hands and legs," the child said, "then he grabbed me by the head and hit my face against the wall until I passed out," said the 12-year-old student.
Yehia Sobhi, 38, the child’s father, said he was surprised to receive a phone call from the health unit in Beheira informing him that his son was unconscious.
Sobhi headed to the police station and filed a report on the incident. The following day, Sobhi said he found his son’s foot swollen and discolored, prompting him to file another report at el-Badr police station.
The police station decided to transfer the victim to the Damanhour ophthalmology hospital for a medical checkup, but the examination has been postponed until his condition improves.
The teacher’s colleagues reportedly approached the victim’s father to convince him to drop the complaint, saying it would not help him in any way. They offered to help with "transferring" the teacher to another school "without hassle," but the father declined.
The father then took his child to Al-Azhar were he met Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayyid Tantawy. Tantawi referred the teacher to an investigation committee and gave the child LE5000 from the money for zakat.
Tantawy reportedly ordered an in-depth investigation into the incident that will result in severe punishment for the teacher if proven guilty.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
