A Senegal boarding school that drew students from the US is at the center of an abuse investigation

The American Dara Academy in Senegal is at the center of abuse allegations after students describe harsh punishments in a room they call the “magic room.”

DAKAR, Senegal -- The American Dara Academy in Senegal marketed itself to families in the United States as an affordable boarding school where their children could study the Quran alongside an American curriculum. Parents and families — many with West African roots — sent their children to the school believing it would be a rigorous and affordable religious education.

But the school is being investigated for alleged physical abuses, with hundreds of students withdrawing from the academy and one of two campuses — where most of the alleged abuses took place — now closed, according to an official close to the case.

In accounts shared with The Associated Press, students alleged that supervisors beat disobedient pupils repeatedly in a so-called “magic room.” The schoolchildren said they were sometimes ordered to strip to their underwear or be naked and told to squat with their arms extended, gripping heavy rocks. If the rocks fell, the beatings grew worse.

The authorities in Senegal confirmed to the AP that an investigation is underway. The country's gendarmerie, its child protective services and the Ministry of Justice are involved in the inquiry, according to an official close to the case.

In late January, the school's director and three administrators were arrested, according to parents and a person with direct knowledge of the arrests and investigations. They said the director was released and placed under house arrest.