Surveillance camera reveals violent behaviour of pupils

Dubai: Eight pupils who allegedly assaulted a shop employee at the Karama Shopping Centre on Monday morning have been identified, said their school principal.

Jaffar Al Fardan, the principal of Al Sa'adiya School, said police will question the pupils about the assault of 31-year-old Jimmy P. Jacob, an Indian salesman in a jewellery store.

The police arrived early yesterday morning at the school to confirm the identities of the pupils.

"I was able to identify 8 pupils of my school after I saw the CCTV footage. Others I suspect are from nearby schools," said Al Fardhan.

The principal asked police to question the pupils at the weekend and if they are found guilty, not to take the required measures until the exams are over.

"I have no authority over pupils outside school. During the exam period pupils leave directly after they finish their exams and I cannot keep them in school," said Al Fardhan.

The incident took place when Jacob was on his way to the shop. A group of pupils followed him and beat him with an aluminium rod. He suffered facial injuries and was taken to Rashid Hospital by police.

John Philip, the shop's manager, said: "The matter has been reported to police. We have also forwarded the CCTV recording to the police."

Jacob, who seemed severely shaken by the incident, told Gulf News that it all started when the pupils who were loitering behind the shopping centre threw an empty can at him.

"I made a dash into the shopping centre. The pupils followed me. I ran into the shop and jumped behind the counter. The pupils caught me and started hitting me on my face, hurling empty bottles as well as their footwear. Before anyone could lay their hands on them they just ran off," he said.

Shopkeepers at the centre said it was not the first time this type of incident had taken place. "These types of things have happened before but no one listened to us," said a shopkeeper.

Police said they are investigating the incident and will try to settle the matter amicably.

Ministry steps in when it is serious

Jamal Al Muhairi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, said: "If people file a complaint against pupils of a certain school, first we ask the school to deal with the issue, and usually the principal has the authority to implement the ministry's behaviour regulations. After that if the school fails to control the problem we intervene, but we also intervene directly when we receive direct complaints from people.

"We hold an investigation and we call the parents to discuss the problem with them as we believe that we have a shared responsibility with the parents towards the children."

- With inputs from Alia Al Theeb