Pakistan: 14-year-old school girl pushed down from building by teachers

According to a media report, two teachers in Pakistan allegedly pushed a 14-year-old girl from the rooftop of a school building in the Punjab province for refusing to clean the classroom.

Fajjar Noor, a class-IX student, is battling for her life at Ghurki Hospital, Lahore. She has got multiple fractures and her spinal cord is also broken.

“My class teachers Bushra and Rehana ordered me to clean the classroom as today (May 23) was my turn to do so. I told them that I was not feeling well and she would do it some other day. On this they took me to another room and started slapping me. Then they took me to the rooftop and ordered me to clean it (roof). When I argued, they pushed me from the rooftop,” Noor was quoted as saying by Dawn news, after she regained consciousness.

The incident took place at the City District Government Girls School, Kot Shahabdin, Shahdara and the teachers, have been booked for attempted murder case.

“Two senior teachers - Rehana Kausar and Bushra Tufail - first inflicted corporal punishment on Fajjar Noor and then took her to top (third) floor of the school building and pushed her down,” Punjab Secretary Education (schools) Allah Bakhsh Malik said.

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The incident took place on May 23 but the school administration and some other officials kept it secret from the education department, he said.

“We came to know about (the incident) on Saturday evening. A departmental inquiry has been launched and the matter has also been referred to the Chief Minister Inspection Team for a thorough probe,” Malik added.

“The chief minister has immediately placed District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Ehsan Malik, Deputy DEO Tayyaba Butt and Headmistress Naghmana Irshad under suspension for hiding the incident. Both teachers have also been suspended and they will be proceeded under the Punjab Employees Efficiency and Disciplinary Act,” he said.

Noor is second among her five siblings - three girls and two boys. Her father Muhammad Akbar is a van driver. Her parents are in a state of disbelief and have expressed shock as to how the teachers could turn so inhuman.

Her parents want Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, not only to provide best medical care to her but also ensure stern action against her tormentors.

“Although Malik visited us and tried to allay our concerns. The CM should come and see my daughter’s condition...she is in extreme pain,” said Rukhsana Bibi, Noor’s mother.

“The school administration informed them that Noor fell from stairs and sustained serious injuries. When we reached the Mayo Hospital, doctors told us that she had multiple fractures. Her spinal cord was also broken. They asked us to shift her to the Spine Centre at Ghurki Hospital for better treatment,” she said.

Malik said the government would bear full expenses of the girl’s treatment. “Noor’s life is out of danger and doctors are trying their best that she could walk again,” he said. Shahdara Town police have registered FIR against the teachers under section 324 (attempted murder). “Police teams are raiding their residences, however, no arrest has been made so far,” a police official said.

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