Kallar Syedan (Pothwar.com — Ikram-ul-Haq Qureshi, September 11, 2026): Police have registered a case against a religious teacher after three minor children were allegedly beaten with a stick for failing to memorise their Quranic lesson at a mosque in Mahli Malkan, Kallar Syedan.
According to the complaint filed by Imran Hussain, a resident of Mahlian Malikan, his eight-year-old son Hassan attends Quranic classes at Jamia Masjid Mahlian Malikan along with other children. The regular teacher, Qari Saddam, had reportedly travelled to Azad Kashmir two or three days earlier. During his absence, Hafiz Muhammad Tauheed, a resident of Banhal Rajdhani, Kallar Syedan, was teaching the children.
The father said that his son returned home crying after attending the lesson and told him that Hafiz Muhammad Tauheed had beaten him and two other children, nine-year-old Arshad, son of Muhammad Jameel Ishtiaq, and Saqib, son of Jameel, with a stick.
The children reportedly had visible marks of physical assault on their bodies. When questioned about the incident, Hafiz Tauheed allegedly acknowledged hitting the children, saying they had failed to memorise their lesson.
Following the complaint, Kallar Syedan Police registered a case against the teacher.
The incident has raised further concern among local residents, particularly as a similar incident was reported only a few weeks ago at another religious seminary in Kallar Syedan, where a minor student allegedly died following violence by a teacher.
Local circles have expressed strong concern over alleged incidents of corporal punishment in religious seminaries and called for the records of students enrolled in all seminaries in Kallar Syedan to be reviewed. They noted that more than 98 percent of students in these institutions reportedly come from distant districts, including Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.