Parents Give School Permission to Whip Daughter Who Was Allegedly Caught With Alcohol

The headmaster of an Islamic school in Kwara, Nigeria was suspended after a video surfaced of four men violently whipping a female student.

The video, which has widely circulated social media, showed the student kneeling as four young men beat her with what appeared to be sticks. According to the woman's father, the students were allegedly caught consuming alcohol, but the students denied the claims. It is forbidden in Islam to consume alcohol.

The student's father told BBC Pidgin that he approved of the whippings due to the accusations facing his daughter. The video circulated on social media this week and caused a stir among users online.

BBC reported that the student's father was upset after he saw footage of the students allegedly drinking alcohol at a friend's birthday party. The students claimed the video showed them carrying yogurt and not alcohol.

"I informed the school about the incident and I personally requested them to give her the appropriate punishment, and I insisted I should be present when they carried it out," he told BBC.

The video of the beating showed a woman kneeling as four young men flogged her with sticks. The men continue hitting the woman and her hijab eventually falls off from the impact as she begins protecting her face with her arm.

A crowd of onlookers watched as the young men flogged the woman continuously. The clip showed the flogging lasted approximately 30 seconds and showed the woman standing up before falling down to the ground with a look of pain on her face.

Other clips surfaced online including a male student screaming as he was publicly flogged at the school and footage showing the aftermath of the flogging. In the video, three young men show their swollen and bloody backs after their beating.

Some Nigerians who saw the clips online ordered authorities to investigate the situation calling it "a brazen display of barbarism." But the school said the punishment complied with Islamic Law.

Flogging, or flagellation, is the act of whipping an individual and dates back to the age of the Roman Empire. Flogging as a form of corporal punishment was abolished in the United States in 1952 and in the United Kingdom in 1948. Under Islamic Sharia Law, flogging is a common punishment for certain offenses including alcohol consumption and gender interaction laws.

In another video that surfaced online this week, a cleric at the school addressed the beatings in front of the students and justified them as a deterrent to others and that it was "only part of our efforts to nurture you so that you can become good children to your parents."

The cleric also said the school received several calls from the student's parents telling them they were neglecting their role and needed to punish the students. During the assembly, one of the students who was flogged said he deserved his punishment.

"Ours is an Islamic school and if we notice any infraction on the part of our Arabic students, we don't take it lightly," the cleric said during the assembly. "It was some of your parents that called us and started blaming us that we were not looking after their children who are kept under our care."

The cleric then explained that the footage showed the involved students drinking alcohol and hugging each other at a club.

"Those who are drinkers may not see anything bad about what these children did. But to us, expected to teach the children Quaran, it's very bad," the cleric said. "It's un-Islamic. We punished some four days ago and others three days ago. We don't usually flog them. But their parents called us and some have assured us that they would stand with us to any length."

A statement issued by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development Hajia Sa'adatu Modibbo Kawu said the government has set up a panel to investigate the situation.

The statement also said that the students have been taken to the hospital to receive medical attention for the injuries sustained from the flogging.

"Regardless of the explanations of the authorities on the development, the self-confessed consent of the parents and regret of the affected students, the government seriously frowns at the harsh beating seen in the footage," the statement read.

"This is to ensure that none of them suffers any physical or psychological damage. The government appeals for calm while the committee does it works and submits a report for further action."