EGYPTIAN TEACHER DETAINED AFTER PUPIL’S DEATH

**Egyptian teacher detained after pupil’s death.** (A file photo shows a public school in Egypt. Al-Arabiya/Reuters)

Cairo, 18 Jumadal Awwal 1436/9 March 2015 (MINA) – A fifth-grade student died on Sunday (8/3) after he was allegedly brutally beaten by his teacher at a public school in Cairo’s working-class Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood, Egyptian media reported.

The pupil, Islam Sherif, died three days after he was transferred to a hospital unconscious from brain hemorrhage, according to news website Aswat Masriya, Al-Arabiya News quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Sherif’s aunt told Egyptian newspaper Youm7 that the teacher, who is in detention, was known for being violent to the student and said would beat the child for failing to do his homework.

The Education Ministry suspended the teacher and remanded him to the prosecution office.

The teacher is in detention for investigation on charges of using “excessive force” against the child. The teacher could face charges of “beating that led to death,” the website said.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the pupil’s death and extended the teacher’s detention for four days.

The Education Ministry will also pay up to 30,000 EGP ($3,920) in compensation to the student’s family, Youm7 added. (T/P006/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)