A BLIND seven-year-old student at an Islamic school in eastern Pakistan has died after his teacher punished him for not learning the Koran, police reported last Friday.
The incident serves to highlight once again the widespread abuse of children in madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan and other parts of the world.
The police said that Muhammad Atif was hung upside down from a ceiling fan and severely beaten by his teacher, Qari Ziauddin, at the seminary or madrassa in Vihari, near Lahore on May 29.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had ordered in inquiry into the death, according to an official statement.
A report in the Herald Sun said the Prime Minister had expressed his deep sorrow and concern over the tragic death of Muhammad Atif.
Police confirmed that the teacher had been arrested on charges of torturing and murdering the boy. Local police official Akram Niazi said:
Qari Ziauddin, who teaches Koran to boys in Qari Latif Islamic school, hanged Atif upside down from a ceiling fan in the school after beating him with sticks.
The teacher also failed to take the boy to hospital following the brutal assault.
Police said a post-mortem examination report confirmed physical torture as the cause of death.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Let’s all remember that:
1. Without faith we would all behave abominably, like that Richard Dawkins – I bet he kills blind kids on a regular basis for not memorising Darwin’s complete works. He looks the type.
2. Islam is a religion of peace, and anybody who says it isn’t should have their throats cut, be shot, or be blown up on public transport.
3. God loves little children. He loves them so much that he arranges things in this, His world, so that millions of little children go stra ight to Heaven without having the chance to grow up.
And so on, and so forth, until we’re extinct as a species, or we grow up.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Geesh, I could have went all day and for the rest of my life without hearing this!
Although, I know Godly Christians who haven’t killed their children for not going to church or bible study – they just have beaten and thrown them and their belongings out of the house.
Some I’ve known have put their kids out on the side of the highway for being disobedient through church services.
But….it was all in the name of God!