The family of Abdullah Auda Al-Aseeri filed a case against the teacher at the police station in Jarwal after they saw the body attempting to end his life. The boy had earlier complained about the teacher’s harsh treatment.
The Class IV student attempted to commit suicide by strangling himself with a curtain rope inside a room of his family house after returning from school. The maid discovered the boy and rescued him.
“The boy was taken to hospital and given necessary treatment,” said Muhammad, the boy’s eldest brother, a university student. “We have reported to police the reason for my brother’s suicide attempt,” he said.
“Two days ago Abdullah had refused to go to school fearing this teacher and he had asked my father to accompany him to receive his books,” he said.
He said the boy had no complaint against other teachers in the school. He said they had not presented any complaint against the teacher, either to the director of the school or to the education director.
Major Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman, spokesman of Makkah police, said the police station in Jarwal has already transferred the case to the commission to complete investigation.
The Education Department in Makkah said it had not received any complaint, adding that it would not accept teachers beating students. It said the family should have filed a complaint against the teacher. One source said the student was away from class for the last four weeks, including two weeks for exams.
Psychologist Fawaz Al-Dahas spoke about the strong relationship between teachers and their students. “A teacher plays a big role in molding the behavior of a student as he views the teacher with respect and imitates him in many things,” he said.
He said teachers should treat students well. “If a teacher treats a student harshly, it will have negative impact on the student, who will think all doors to his future have been closed,” he explained.
Al-Dahas said students who are treated harshly by teachers in front of their classmates could try to commit suicide when he feels that the creator of his future has closed all doors in front of him. “This is what happened to student Abdullah,” he said.
