A Muslim teacher in Sweden has been fired after an internal investigation concluded that she abused and intimidated disabled pupils, vowing to “cure” them by citing verses from the Quran in exorcisms she filmed and posted on social media.
The decision followed a months-long inquiry triggered by video material sent anonymously to senior education officials in Malmö City back in September last year. The footage, later authenticated by municipal investigators, showed a teacher wearing a Malmö City badge filming pupils inside a municipal primary school and speaking to them in Arabic.
According to the investigation cited by Sydsvenskan, the teacher repeatedly claimed that pupils were possessed by demons or the devil and attempted to “cure” them by reciting verses from the Quran. In several recordings, she is heard threatening students and describing fear as an acceptable disciplinary tool. The videos were circulated online and forwarded to others without parental knowledge or consent.
One clip shows the teacher saying that a child was “possessed by a devil” and explaining that Quran verses were read so that he would “get better.” In another, she describes threatening a pupil who had been acting out, saying: “I told him if you do that again I will break your head. […] Now he’s scared of me and that’s fine.”
After senior officials viewed the material, Malmö City launched a confidential investigation without initially informing the school’s principal. An authorized interpreter translated the recordings, and the findings were described by investigators as more serious than first anticipated.
The teacher, a woman in her 50s who qualified in 2010 and had worked in Malmö’s school system for about 15 years, was confronted on Oct. 8, 2025. She initially denied wrongdoing, saying she did not understand the accusations. She later acknowledged parts of her behavior, arguing that reading the Quran had calmed pupils and claiming that she never physically harmed anyone, though she admitted making threatening remarks when angry.
As the Swedish newspaper reported, she also claimed that someone was trying to frame her, and later that the recordings might be fabricated or AI-generated. Those claims were rejected after Malmö City commissioned an internal IT specialist to analyze the footage.
During questioning, the teacher told investigators that pupils were “suffering from something” and that reciting Quran verses was, in her view, a way to calm them. She described violent language as common Arabic “jargon,” citing phrases such as “I’m going to kill you,” while insisting she did not intend to harm anyone.
The investigation concluded that the teacher had violated Swedish law, professional duties, and the municipality’s core values, particularly in relation to the safety and dignity of children with disabilities.
Her employment was formally terminated last month, and parents were informed of the city’s findings.
“This is not how we want it to be in our schools in Malmö,” said Peter Lindberg, the city’s director of primary education, confirming the dismissal and referring further questions to the municipal administration.
The matter will also now be investigated by the city’s police, with a spokesperson confirming to Omni that further evidence can be submitted to them directly. “Information can come to us in many different ways, through tips, through interrogations, and from the media.”
