FAISALABAD, May 1: Makkah Masjid and Madressah administrator Maulvi Mahboob Alam on Saturday denied allegations of poisoning and torturing a student, who is being treated at the Children's Hospital, Lahore, for psychological trauma.

However, about a dozen children playing around the seminary accused its management of torturing the students, who skipped away on French leave. They alleged that the administrator clubbed the students with wooden sticks and iron rods, besides chaining them for their lack of interest in learning the Holy Quran.

During a visit to the seminary, which is situated at congested Nighebanpura, on Saturday, this correspondent learnt that the institution was being run by local trader Haji Muhammad Ramzan on the upper portion of the mosque.

Qari Mahboob Alam is a paid prayer leader and responsible for imparting education of the Holy Quran to students. The seven-marla mosque was built about 30 years, but its madressah started functioning just three years ago.

Spelling out details about the admission and escape of 11-year-old Atif Rahman (the victim), Qari Mahboob said he was enrolled on the recommendation of his neighbour Babar Husain, a resident of Shahkot. "The minor boy used to disturb his teacher and fellow students on one pretext or the other and was not serious in learning the Holy Quran," he alleged.

He said about three weeks ago, the boy complained of pain in chest and head after which he was treated for these symptoms. However, his condition deteriorated and he started acting like a deaf and blind, the administrator said, adding his parents rushed to the seminary and took the boy after receiving information.

He denied the allegations of the boy's parents of torturing and poisoning him. However, he said the boy was given milk when he complained of pain. All the 13 students of the seminary were given meals at a time and there was no reason to treat Atif harshly, he said.

He also admitted that the boy was locked in a separate room and chained so that he could not escape. "We handcuffed the boy and locked him in a room because his parents had asked us to do so," he claimed. He added that the chain was given to him by his parents for that purpose.

The prayer leader said he had been helping students learn the Holy Quran by heart for the last five years and was a permanent employee of the seminary for Rs3,500 a month. He said he was the father of two children and living in a house adjacent to the mosque.

Atif's friend Babar, when talked by this correspondent, said they were close friends and started learning the Holy Quran at Jamia Imdadul Aloom in Shahkot. However, he said, Atif left the seminary because he was not interested in his lessons.

He further said he was approached by some of his relatives, who were living in Nankana Sahib. Atif's mother asked me to take him to Faisalabad and get him admitted to some seminary. "While handing him over at Nankana Sahib, she chained him so that he could not run away during travel."

On their way, he said, Atif hit his head against the seat of the bus and suffered serious injuries.

Babar said Atif was chained and locked in a separate room of the seminary so that he could not escape, but denied the charges of torture.

Information gleaned about the seminary revealed that children were tortured by Maulvi Mahboob. Mannan, Humaira, Osama, Ajmal and Mateen, the students of the seminary, told this correspondent that they were roped and clubbed with iron rods for committing negligible mistakes during lessons.

The relatives of Atif had lodged a complaint with the HRCP and the government authorities, alleging that the boy was tortured at the seminary and was given poison due to which he became a patient of psychological trauma.

The boy is being treated at the Children's Hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.