By - - BBC NEWS - ASIA
Added: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:41:51 UTC

About 50 students have been freed from a religious school in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, where some were being kept in chains, officials say.

The male students, some as young as 12, were reportedly beaten, deprived of food and kept in what police say amounted to a torture chamber.

Some of the younger children were sent there because parents thought it had a good reputation

Some parents paid for their children to attend the school known as the "jail madrassa" because their sons were addicted to drugs or involved in crime.

An inquiry has already been ordered.

At least two people helping run the madrassa have been arrested, but the head escaped, police said.

'Parents applied chains'
Students have described the brutal regime inside the seminary - some spoke to the media while still wearing their chains.

One said he was beaten 200 times, while another said they were told they would be sent to join the jihad and if they tried to escape they would get 200 lashes.

"I was kept in the basement for the past month and was kept in chains. They also tortured me severely during this period. I was beaten with sticks," student Mohi-ud-Din told Reuters news agency.

The BBC Urdu Service's Hasan Kazmi in Karachi met one teenager who said they were forced to study all hours. "We were not provided proper food or clothing," he said.

One boy said Taliban members had visited the seminary and told them to "prepare for battle".

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TAGGED: ABUSE, CHILDREN, ISLAM