then set his body on fire because he was struggling to commit passages
from the Koran to memory, a court was told.
Sara Ege, 32, is alleged to have beaten Yaseen Ali 'like a dog' for
failing to recite passages from the religious text, before burning his
body at the family home in Cardiff to try and cover up what she had
done.
The youngster's death was initially believed to be a tragic accident
following the blaze at the house in Pontcanna, until a post-mortem
examination revealed Yaseen had died before
the fire broke out, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
Beaten: Yaseen Ali, seven, was beaten by his mother for falling behind
with his Islamic studies, a court heard Accused:
The trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard how the university graduate and
her husband Yousuf Ege had enrolled Yaseen in advanced classes at
their local mosque and hoped he would become Hafiz - an Islamic term
for someone who has memorised the Koran.
But the court was told fun-loving Yaseen preferred to play with his
friends and fell behind with his learning.
Funeral: Cardiff Crown Court has heard Ege grew increasingly
frustrated with her seven-year-old son for failing to learn passages
from the Koran
Tragedy: Ege allegedly hit her child with a hammer, a rolling pin and
a slipper as well as punching him repeatedly
'I was getting more and more frustrated,' Ege said in the interview.
'If he didn't read it properly I would be very angry - I would hit him.
'But Yaseen wasn't very good - after a year of practice he had only
learned a chapter."
She went on: 'I was getting all this bad stuff in my head, like I
couldn't concentrate, I was getting angry too much, I would shout at
Yaseen all the time.
'I was getting very wild - I use to beat him with a stick.'
The court was told how Ege hit Yaseen with a hammer, a rolling pin and
a slipper as well as repeatedly punching him.
She would also allegedly lock him in the shed, tie him to a door, and
force him to do push ups.
The court heard that in the months after Yaseen's death Ege told a
doctor she had been told to kill her son by Shaitan - an Islamic name
for the devil - and that she felt 100 per cent
better after he died.
She denies murdering Yaseen and burning his body to hide what she had done.
Her husband denies causing or allowing the death of a child by not
stopping his wife's beatings.
Yaseen's father, who would drive the seven- year-old to mosque for his
Koran practice before and after school, has said he never saw his wife
raise a hand against their child.
The trial continues.
Source: Dailymail