Beaten Tahfiz student dies
Published on: Thursday, April 27, 2017
Johor: Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi (pic), whose legs were amputated after alleged beatings at his tahfiz school hostel, has died.He passed away at 2.05pm Wednesday at the High Dependency Ward of the Sultan Ismail Hospital.His father Mohd Ghadiffi Mat Karim, 43, said he and his wife, Felda Wani Ahmad, were by their son's side when he died.
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"The family had already read the Yassin. Thaqif did not regain consciousness," he said.He said the family has accepted the death as fate. "I was with my youngest child outside the ward when Thaqif died," he said.Thaqif had his legs amputated on Friday to prevent spread of an infection. He had undergone surgery the next day to treat congealed blood in one of his hands.He had been hospitalised after severe bouts of pain which occurred days after he had been allegedly beaten by the assistant warden at his religious school hostel in Kota Tinggi.
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Police have said that the boy and 14 of his schoolmates were allegedly beaten with a water hose by the assistant warden on March 24 because they made noise in the school surau.His right arm was also in danger of being amputated. Doctors had planned to amputate the arm but had to suspend the operation as his condition took a turn for the worse.
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The assistant warden was arrested at his home in Felda Lok Heng Barat, Kota Tinggi last Saturday, following a police report lodged on April 18 by Thaqif's mother.His remand order was due to expire Wednesday, but it was extended for another three days until Saturday to facilitate the probe into the case.Thaqif had complained to his mother about the beatings and also wrote in his diary about how the abuse had started last month."Dear Allah, please open my parents' hearts to allow me to transfer to another school because I cannot stand it anymore. Please, Allah, make my wishes come true," one of Thaqif's diary entries read, as related by his aunt.A lawyer has advised the family to gather evidence for a potential civil suit against the residential school and the staff responsible for the injury.Sharmila Sekaran, the Chairman of NGO Voice of Children, said: "From the media reports I have read so far, it appears that the school has failed to protect the boy. We have a situation where the boy was beaten to an extent he suffered tremendous pain and swelling."The parents should have the x-rays and photos to show there was opening of the skin, puncturing or cutting of the skin resulting in the boy getting a skin tear, swelling, getting an infection and dying," she said.The lawyer said by now the police should have taken the pipe or the hose used to hit the boy as evidence.She said she'd read that there was a CCTV in the school compound but she was not sure if it had recorded the incident. "The parents would want to collect all this evidence to present in the potential civil suit."Sharmila said there was also a break in the events leading to the incident. The doctors, she said, were unable to confirm how the legs got infected with gangrene to a point where they had to be amputated.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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