A six-year-old hijab-wearing girl was spanked, stripped and paraded naked in The Islamic School at Shahpur recently. Esha Sheikh (name changed) had to undergo this humiliation just because she had not completed her homework.
The punishment did not end here. The teacher, Zeba Bazi, then made the Class I student to clean toilets — soiled for the purpose — and later locked her inside one of them.
This happened when the male peons were present on the school premises. Ironically, it is compulsory for the girls to wear hijab or burqa to this school.
The shocked girl kept quiet and her parents, Sameena and Sarwar Sheikh, learned about the incident only from her friend, Zaheera, on Saturday.
“On Saturday morning, Esha pleaded with us to pull her out of the school. She was weeping when returned home in the evening. Then Zaheera told us about the incident,” Sameena said.
The teacher had reportedly meted out similar punishment to Zaheera also.
Ashraf Khan, a relative of Esha, said this was the seventh such incident in the school in last four months and 15th in the last one year since the new principal took over.
On Monday morning, the Sheikhs along with other parents stormed the school to speak to the teacher and the trustee, but were not allowed to enter the campus.
Subsequently, they went to Shahpur police station and lodged a complaint against the school trustee — Iqbal Patel (68) alias Rasik Patel and his fourth wife Rihanna (32) who is also the principal.
Patel was called to the police station and detained till the parents filed a complaint.
Patel refused to speak to DNA about the incident, despite repeated questions.
Parents said the school authorities threaten the girls not to inform about the incident at home. If the girls complain to their parents, they are spanked at school the next day.
Sarwar Sheikh also claimed that the police have not taken any action against Patel despite several complaints.
Recounting a similar incident, Imran Sheikh, father of a class III student, said he had lodged a police complaint against Patel and his wife in March 2011, but in vain.
Arif Querishi, whose daughter is studying in class VI, said, “My daughter was asked to clean the bathroom once. I tried to change her school, but in vain. The school’s leaving certificate is not accepted by other schools because it is not recognized by the Gujarat government.”
