About 50 students who were chained and kept in the basement of a religious school were rescued by the Karachi police in Pakistan on Tuesday.

The group, ranging from boys to middle-aged men, ages 12 to 50 years, were routinely beaten and deprived of food by the authorities of the madrassa.

Some of them were beaten 200 times and were told they would be sent to join the jihad and would get 200 lashes if they tried to escape, the BBC has reported.

Some of the young men were sent to the madrassa by their parents to cure their drug addiction while some for other crimes.

Have a look at the state of the students when they were found by the police.

Chained Student in Karachi Madrassa
A student wears a chain around his ankle while others sit with their belongings at a police station after being rescued during a late night raid at the Zakariya madrassa on 13/12/2011. Reuters
Chained Student in Karachi Madrassa
Students wear chains around their ankles while sitting with their belongings at a police station after being rescued during a late night raid in Karachi on 13/12/2011. Reuters
Chained Student in Karachi Madrassa
Students wait with their belongings at a police station after being rescued during a late night raid at the Zakariya madrassa on the outskirts of Karachi on 13/12/2011. Reuters
Chained Student in Karachi Madrassa
A student looks through the bars of a room in a police station after being rescued during a late night raid at the Zakariya madrassa on the outskirts of Karachi on 13/12/2011. Reuters
Chained Student in Karachi Madrassa
A boy poses for a photograph with his chains at a police station after he was rescued during a late night raid at the Zakariya madrassa in the outskirts of Karachi on 13/12/2011. Reuters
Pakistan