Cairo: Saudi prosecutors ordered a 40-day suspension for a schoolteacher pending investigations over glorifying the devil in an exam paper, Saudi newspaper Okaz has reported.
The man had deleted the phrase “seek refuge in Allah” and replaced it with “seek refuge in the devil” in the exam at a primary school in the Saudi western region of Al Bahah, according to the paper.
The exam papers were immediately withdrawn from pupils, a local education spokesman said.
An education team later visited the school, investigated the incident and recommended the teacher be suspended and barred from entering the school.
The teacher has a criminal record, an education official told Okaz.
“He is convicted in 10 cases of immorality and drugs. He also smokes inside the school during working hours and plays songs on the school broadcasting system during exam time,” the unnamed official said.
The paper quoted a medical source as saying that the teacher likely suffers from “hallucinations” and psychological imbalance, noting he had previously been admitted into a psychiatric hospital.
