IHC suspends legal ground for torturing children in schools on Shehzad Roy’s plea

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Justice Athar Manullah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended the legal ground for torturing children in schools. Singer and Zindagi Trust president Shehzad Roy had filed an application seeking a ban on torture of children. He had made the secretaries from the Interior, Law, Education, And Human Rights Departments and the IGP as a party to the case. He contended that punishing children in educational institutions have become a routine. “Children’s punishment is being considered essential for improving learning. News of torture and punishment of children has been reported every day in the media,” it states. The petition quoted a report published by SPARK, according to which around 35,000 children leave school annually because of punishment. “Pakistan ranks 154 out of 182 countries in terms of children’s rights.” It requests that Article 89 of Pakistan Penal Code be held contradictory to the basic human rights as “it violates the basic human rights and the United Nations Convention on Children”. Physical punishment should be banned in schools, prisons, and detention centres, it states, adding that the government should be directed to protect children from physical and mental torture. It also urged that schools should be instructed in every way to protect children from any kind of physical and mental torture. Under the UN Convention, the petition states, full implementation of child protection laws should be directed and an immediate injunction should be issued to ensure the protection of children’s basic rights.