Parents of a 14-year-old boy, who went missing, have alleged that he was upset after the educational institute where he studies asked him to shave off his pubescent beard that he had kept for religious reasons.
Parents of a 14-year-old boy, who went missing on Tuesday, have alleged that the boy was upset after the educational institute where he studies asked him to shave off his pubescent beard that he had kept for religious reasons.
The boy, Tabish Patel, a student at the Society for Rehabilitation of Crippled Children (SRCC), left the institute at 9.30am. He returned home 12 hours later, but his family alleged that the school should not have allowed a child with disabilities to go home unaccompanied by an adult.
The SRCC trains around 60 children with physical and mental disabilities to take open exams.
The institution denied that Tabish was asked to shave off his beard. It said that the boy was not allowed to take the internal mathematics exam because he had not completed his study notes.
Senior police inspector of the Tardeo police station on Wednesday said that they were questioning the boy.
The family, which stays in Agripada, about 1km from the SRCC, alleged that it was only at 10.45am that they received a telephone call from the institution saying that Tabish had left school.
His uncle, Junaid Patel, said: “I was travelling to Saki Naka with Tabish’s father when my sister-in-law called to say that he had not reached home.”
Junaid added: “He had been saying for the past one week that he had been asked to shave off his beard. He did not want to, because our religion believes that the first facial hair is a source of power and should not be shaved soon. His elder brother, who is 21 years old, does not keep a beard. We told Tabish to trim it, but he did not want to cut it. We did not insist. The students
at the institution are special children.”
Anita Garware, secretary of the SRCC, said that the boy had told his instructors he wanted to go home as he had not submitted his notes. “Like any other institution, we do not allow students to take internal exams if the notes are not complete,” said Garware. “We have been running this institution for 60 years. We are concerned about our students. We told the Tardeo police station to make inquiries after his family said he was missing.”
About allegations that the boy was asked to shave off his beard, Garware said: “I have no idea about these allegations. I am aware of the boy’s relatives shouting and screaming in the institute premises.”
Islamic scholar Dr Asghar Ali Engineer said, “If he was not
allowed to take the exam because of his beard, it looks like an instance of anti-Islamic sentiment. Educational institutions should not take such steps. Even if there were other reasons, the boy should have been counselled and allowed to take the exam.”
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