Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A school teacher, Abdulrahman Al-Zahrani, was physically assaulted by a gang of unidentified members. "A month ago I got into a heated banter with a police officer whose son is one of my students. The police officer's son was involved in a fight that took place earlier that day. The fight was between the son and another student," said Al-Zahrani. He added he had to interfere and stop the fight as a teacher. "I pulled the two students apart and put them in separate rooms. I was then approached by the police officer after the end of the day. He was wearing his formal uniform to intimidate me, I think. We got into a heated banter which ended up with me threatening to beat his son and he threatened to beat me," said 50-year-old Al-Zahrani. He added he had never hit any of his students and he only uses force when necessary such as when breaking up a fight. "I got a knock on my classroom door on Sunday morning. It was before the first period around 7:30 a.m. I was surprised by the knock and I thought maybe it was one of the elderly parents too tired to go to the other door to the administration," said Al-Zahrani. He added he opened the door to be pounced upon by a gang who began beating him mercilessly. "They began punching my face until I fell to the floor. I was able to see a silhouette similar to that of the police officer I spoke to in previous weeks," said Al-Zahrani. He added he felt he would be beaten to death if it was not for his colleagues who called the police. "The police showed up as one of the gang members was about to beat me up with a crane. The gang immediately ran away and managed to escape once the police showed up. In my 37 years of teaching, I have never been assaulted or threatened like that. I have lodged a case with the police and I am not backing down until the gang members are arrested. They are currently on the loose and unidentified," said Al-Zahrani. Jeddah Education Director Abdullah Al-Thaqafi said he received orders from Governor Prince Mishal Bin Majed asking the authorities to take immediate action and arrest the assaulters as such a vile act is intolerable. "The school has camera footage documenting the assault. The police are currently investigating the case and will not rest until the assaulters are arrested and penalized for their crime. The incident is not taken lightly as teachers have a dignified status in society," said Al-Thaqafi. He added assaulting teachers is a personal assault on every citizen. "Teachers live to serve the future generation and such degrading acts should never be inflicted on them. the directorate will closely follow up with the case and ensure that the authorities will not rest until the gang is arrested," said Al-Thaqafi.
