JEDDAH, 28 February — The guardian of a school student and his son were whipped publicly in a city school square here on Sunday. This is the first time an educational institution under the Ministry of Education punished a parent and his son in this manner.
The corporal punishment was meted out following Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed's order after a criminal act by the two was established beyond doubt. The unnamed father and his 16-year-old son attacked Nasir Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, a teacher at the Zaid ibn Al-Khattab Primary School in Safa district in Jeddah, last Saturday while he was teaching Islamic lessons in second grade.
Al-Ghamdi could not defend himself in the surprise attack and sustained several injuries including a broken bone. Hearing the cries for help from students in the class, the headmaster and other teachers came to the rescue of Al-Ghamdi and freed him from the clutches of the fuming father and son. Both were handed to the police immediately, said Suleiman Al-Zayedi, director general of education in the Makkah region.
The motive behind the attack is not known and the matter is still under investigation, said Al-Zayedi. The duo allegedly admitted to the other staff members in the school that they were mistaken in attacking Al-Ghamdi.
Al-Zayedi also pointed out that no sons of the irate parent studied in his victim's class. However, Al-Ghamdi suspects that the man might have been prompted by his request to the students to bring a copy of their family register, as he was the teacher in charge of updating the students' records in the school.
Both offenders were given 60 lashes in front of the students and staff in compliance with the orders of the governor after both admitted to their excesses on two counts -- violating the sanctity of the school premises and physical assault on a teacher.
Al-Zayedi added that the education authorities planned to appoint an attorney to take up the complaint by the teacher in the court. The director of education ruled out any physical threats to teachers from guardians. Cases of attacks on teachers in school campuses were unheard of in the region though frustrated students damaged cars belonging to teachers during the exams.
