year-old Mohamed Talha, a student of a private school in Jeddah, have registered a case with the police and the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah, against the school alleging that their son was physically abused by the principal. The parents allege the principal beat Talha with a stick and locked him up in a room for many hours without the parents' knowledge. The Pakistani Consulate said it will forward the parents' complaint to the Ministry of Education. However, the school principal denied all the allegations. A doctor in Badr Al-Tamam, a private clinic in Jeddah, who checked Talha's wounds, confirmed the boy had beating marks. “The marks on his body clearly indicate that the boy was badly beaten up with a stick,” said the doctor, who requested anonymity, adding that Talha had fever because of the injuries. “There are multiple marks of lashes on the body, from the hip to the toe, and these are dermal deep,” he said. Talha's mother, meanwhile, described the events that she said led to the beating. Mrs Ahmed said that she had complained to the school's administrator against Talha's P.E teacher, who she said was forcing them to send Talha for private tuition at his home. “We refused because we cannot afford extra tuition. Moreover, Talha told me that he doesn't want to go to the P.E teacher because he said the behavior of this teacher with him is very bad, and that the teacher wanted to give him some CDs which Talha had refused to accept,” said Mrs Ahmed, adding that because she “came to know about the P.E teacher, he put the blame on Talha to save himself”. “They didn't call us, they didn't complain against our child, and when I called the school to ask them why he was beaten, the principal admitted beating Talha and threatened to beat him again. He asked us to come to see him on Wednesday, and when we did, he refused to meet us,” said Mr Ahmed, Talha's father. Talha's mothers said the school also alleged that Talha had bought to school a very bad CD. “Irrespective of what he did, the school principal should have called us first,” she said. Mrs Ahmed said the CD in question was discovered under another student's chair, adding that they “do not even have a CD player at home”. Talha's parents have approached the Pakistan Consulate's welfare consul, Mohammed Nusrullah Khan, and have complained against the issue of physical abuse. They said the school principal refused to meet them. “The principal only told us to fulfill the transfer formalities if we wanted to transfer our child to another school,” said Mrs Ahmed. “The Consulate is carefully handling the matter. Physical abuse in school is not acceptable. We will forward the matter to the Ministry of Education along with the parents' complaint,” said Consul Khan. Talha, meanwhile, recalled what happened on the day he said he was beaten up. “It was a Tuesday and I had my computer exam that day. In the morning when I was going towards my class, the P.E teacher showed me a CD. I did not notice him and went to my class,” said Talha. “During the break, when I came out of the class, the P.E teacher took me to the principal's room. Without asking or saying anything, I was beaten up by the principal there. The teacher searched my bag and my clothes, but the CD was not found anywhere,” he said. The P.E teacher said that he never beats students and that he only brandishes a cane to “scare the students”. He said that the principal took his cane before he went on a random inspection of the school campus. He also denied that the CD was found under the other student's chair. However, when Saudi Gazette approached a few students in the school and asked them about the P.E teacher, most of them admitted that the P.E teacher did beat them, and that they were ‘scared' of the teacher and the principal. “Yes, our P.E teacher beats the students if they do some mischief. However, he never beats the students without a reason,” said a Grade 6 student in the school. “I request the Ministry of Education to investigate the matter and to keep an eye on the international schools and their authorities so they can never indulge in such acts,” said Talha's mother.
