A 10-year-old Pakistani schoolboy has died after he was brutally beaten with a rod by his headmaster over a ‘minor issue’.
The heartbreaking incident took place at a private school in the Khyber district in northern Pakistan on Friday during a school assembly.
Khyalmat Khan was critically injured and taken to hospital where he later died, according to local media.
Headmaster Waqar Ahmed used a stick to hit the young student on the head, neck, face, and back, police said.
Mr Ahmed was arrested and remains in police custody.
Khyber District Police Officer Rai Mazhar Iqbal condemned the violent attack in a statement.
‘Violence against children and women will not be tolerated under any circumstances’, he said.
‘No one has the right to misuse the noble role of a teacher to commit such brutality.
‘A teacher is a spiritual guardian, but this man has dishonered the sanctity of the profession’, he added.
The tragic even has sparked outrage in the local community, prompting parents to demand that local authorities impose a ban on corporal punishment at schools.
The shocking incident comes after a historic bill was passed in the Pakistani city of Islamabad in 2021 banning violence against children.
The move came amid a number of high-profile cases of children being badly beaten and even killed, in schools, religious institutions and workplaces.
In January 2021, an eight-year-old boy was beaten to death by his teacher for not memorising a lesson.
In June 2020, a girl, aged eight, who was working as a maid in Islamabad, was beaten to death by her employers after she let their pet parrots escape.