Mother beats her son to death for failing to memorise Koran

Sara Ege also set her 7-year-old son, Yaseen's body on fire to hide the evidence A woman who beat her son to death for failing to learn parts of the Koran has been jailed for life. Sara Ege has also been ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison, for the murder of her seven-year-old son Yaseen. The boy died in July 2012 from severe internal injuries, a result of consistent beatings handed out by Ege. The 33-year old was also found guilty of setting Yaseen's body on fire to hide the evidence.
On Monday, Ege collapsed as the sentence was read out at Cardiff Crown Court after a five-week trial.
At the time of the incident, Yaseen's death was treated as a fire fatality, but evidence revealed that he was dead before the fire began.
Members of the Jury were told how Yaseen was beaten regularly with a wooden muller after he failed to memorise the Koran properly.
In passing sentence, judge Justice Wyn Williams said, "his injuries must have caused him a good deal of pain. In my judgment Yaseen was subjected to prolonged cruelty. The violence that you perpetrated on your son was not confined to one day."
He accepted that while Ege was a "good mother" in some aspects, she was in the wrong and trying to burn his body to hide the evidence was an "aggravating" factor. "What was your motive for acting as you did? I am satisfied that, on the day of his death, Yaseen was kept home from school so that he could dedicate himself to his (Koran) studies. On that day Yaseen must have failed in some way because I am satisfied that it was that failure which was the trigger for the beating," he added.
During trial, Ege argued that her husband Yousef beat her regularly and was responsible for the death of her son. However, Yaseen's father was cleared of causing or allowing his son's death at home in Pontcanna, Cardiff, south Wales.
Ege was crying for an hour at the sentencing proceedings. She collapsed and was trembling as she was taken away from the dock.