Video: Quran teacher in Pakistan arrested after being caught on camera whipping children
Viral video showed crying children extending their palms to get hit with a rubber pipe
Dubai: A man was arrested in Pakistan after a video showing him hitting children at a mosque went viral on Twitter.
Pakistani Singer, Shehzad Roy, shared the viral video and wrote: “If this Maulvi [religious teacher] is still out I’ll make sure he is arrested today because I think this is happening in Karachi.”
WARNING: The video contains disturbing content.
Someone who came to the mosque to pray recorded the video, where boys could be seen holding out their palms in fear, expecting the whipping. Other boys could be seen doubling over in pain. The man confronted the teacher, asking him to stop. When the teacher refused, he asked, “Will you kill them?” The teacher retorted: “Yes, I’ll kill them.”
He then snapped at the man, asking him to go back to praying. The man approached one of the children, crying and asked him why he was being beaten. The child responded: “I hadn’t come for the past two days.”
The video was shared by other social media users on Friday and Sindh Police responded shortly afterwards, arresting the man. According to the police, the man was from the city of Hyderabad in the same state. The tweet by the police’s official Twitter account, @sindhpolicedmc, identified the man as Shabir Ahmad, who is the imam at Sarhandi Masjid and a hafiz – someone who has memorised the Quran – as well as a Quran teacher.
Several Twitter users commended the police force for their prompt action.
Many tweeps commented on how teachers should never resort to violent methods of teaching and urged for a strict punishment.