Thaindian News

Islamabad, Dec 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Pakistani law enforcement officers have rescued more than 50 children who were subjected to torture. Some of the children were as young as seven years of age.

When the police raided the basement where the children were being held, they found some of them chained while others were visibly tortured. The place is described as a form of “torture school” where children considered “stubborn” by their parents sent to be “reformed.” Such schools are called Madrassa in Pakistan. Poor families patronize the schools because they are the only ones that they afford. Unfortunately the government does not regulate the activities of those schools.

Some of the rescued children narrated their ordeal to the international press. They spoke about torture and beating at the school but parents denied knowing about the treatment that their wards were subjected to.

Mohammad Ashraf told the Associated Press that he sent his eight-year-old son Mushtaq Ahmed to the school believing that he will be given religious training. He said that, “I didn’t know the madrassa management would beat him so mercilessly. I will no longer keep my son in this madrassa.”

The Pakistani police say they are handling the case with care and they will only be in the position to present the whole picture after collecting “all the evidence.”