Thiruvananthapuram: A 13-year-old boy suffered 90 per cent vision loss allegedly after being brutally assaulted in a madrassa in Kollam.
The incident occurred at Chavara last Sunday when a 26-year-old senior student from the class hit the young boy with a stick for talking to a classmate.
The boy, who is currently undergoing treatment at the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology in Thiruvananthapuram fainted immediately after suffering the blow which landed across his face hitting his eyes blinding him for a while.
The Sankaramangalam Police booked Shehnaz, the alleged attacker who is absconding, under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
“When I woke up after falling unconscious, I had no vision for a while, and later, my eyes became blurred. I was taken to a private clinic near our home. They send us to the Kollam district hospital, and from there, we were referred to the eye hospital here,” said the boy, a Class VIII student.
“I was talking to another kid, and the senior students usually hit us in the arms or shoulders. This time the blow landed on my eyes. There were swelling and blood clot inside my eyes. I got scared and ran back to my home immediately.”
Mumtaz, his mother, said that the doctors have said that he could have a vision problem in the future because of the injury.
“The madrassa people have approached us for compromise. I don’t want any money from them. The doctors haven’t reached a conclusion yet. There is slight vein damage and swelling in the eyes, and we don’t know when will we be discharged from here. The doctor said he might lose his vision when he grows old,” she said.
“His father and I got separated over eight years back, and I work at a textile shop for raising the kids and helping my mother. We live in a rented house. I have a daughter too.”
The Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) has intervened and given reports to the Superintendent of Police (SP) and Kerala State Child Rights Commission seeking action against unauthorised and private madrassas operating in the state.
“We received the complaint on our Thanal helpline number – 1517. We got in touch with the child welfare committee there to take immediate action," said K. Bahuleyan Nair, state coordinator of Thanal – an initiative of Kerala State Council for Child Welfare.
He said they received many similar complaints on the helpline.
“Three months back, a case was reported in Kasargod. The ustad of a madrassa molested a young girl, but the parents didn’t pursue the case. It's high time the government bring all these unorganised madrassas under control,” said Mr Bahuleyan.
He said that the Thanal helpline number had received around 30,000 calls since its launch in November 2016.
