KARACHI - A cleric who allegedly beat his eight-year-old pupil to death at a seminary in Karachi’s Bin Qasim Town area on Sunday was pardoned by the victim’s family on Monday, Station House Officer Dhani Bux Marri said. Despite the pardoning, police nonetheless proceeded to register a first information report (FIR) against the accused on behalf of the state under Section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mohammed Hussain had allegedly been subjected to corporal punishment by Qari Najmuddin in the past, after which he had run away from the seminary. His parents, however, brought him back to the seminary on Friday. When the student tried to flee again, Qari Najmuddin got hold of him and allegedly beat him to death with a blunt weapon.