Senegal’s battered child beggars

SENEGAL is failing to protect thousands of boys in boarding schools from forced begging and torture at the hands of their teachers. Tens of thousands of boys known as “talibes” – the vast majority aged under 12 – are forced to beg in Senegal’s streets by often brutally abusive religious teachers known as marabouts, according to campaigners.

Making a profit from forced begging has been outlawed since 2005, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.