Three madrasa teachers held for assaulting minor students in Gujarat

HIMMATNAGAR: Police have arrested three madrasa teachers for allegedly thrashing some minor students over trivial issues and not letting them step out of the school premises in Prantij town of Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, officials said on Tuesday.

The issue came to light after eight students of the madrasa escaped from the madrasa on Monday and sought help from passengers of an Udaipur-bound train, Deputy Superintendent of Police A K Patel said. "Based on a complaint, Prantij police registered an FIR against three madrasa teachers for thrashing minor students and confining them in the premises.

The minor students told us that they were assaulted over trivial reasons and were nor allowed to go out of the school," he said. The three accused were identified as Maulvi Mufti Yousuf, Maulvi Mohammad Anas Memon and Maulvi Mohammad Fahad of Jamia Darul Ehsan Waqf Madrasa in Prantij.

They were booked on the charges of assault, wrongful confinement and under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act, the police said. As per the FIR, the 16-year-old complainant and 31 other minor students of this madrasa are originally from Bihar.

They were brought here in a train by Younus on April 13. After some days, these teachers started hitting students with sticks for not sleeping early or not waking up at 5 am in the morning.

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'Unable to bear the torture'

The teachers also started beating students for other reasons, such as enjoying some lighter moments or not studying properly, the FIR said. To stop the students from going out, the teachers used to keep the premises locked.

When the complainant urged the teachers to let them go out for some time, Mohammad Hanaf punched him in the stomach and hit on his back with a stick, the FIR said. Unable to bear the torture, eight of the students fled the madrasa by opening the lock during early hours of Monday and boarded an Ahmedabad-bound train from Prantij station, the official said.

"However, they changed their plan mid-way and boarded an Udaipur-bound train in the opposite direction. When the train reached Himmatnagar station after Prantij, the accused tracked them down and forced them to come along," he said.

But in order to save themselves, these boys started shouting for help, following which personnel of the Railway Police reached the spot and took them to the waiting room for further investigation, he added. They were later handed over to the Prantij police for further action, Patel said.