Teachers` torment costs life of a girl student

Kazi Zahidul Hasan with Monir Hossain, N’ganj Correspondent :”Forgive me. I’m compelled to commit suicide as I can’t tolerate anymore,” Umme Habiba Sraboni, 15, a student of class IX of Gonobidda Niketon High School in Narayanganj, said in a suicide note addressed to her mother before she hanged herself. The suicide note reads further, “Dear mother, the two teachers utterly humiliated and tortured me before all the students and teachers. All have laughed at me. The teachers, Nasrin miss and Munna sir, are responsible for my death.” Being tormented by teachers, Sraboni committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her living room at Nitaiganj in Narayanganj district on Thursday afternoon.  The body of Sraboni was found in her room by her family members and neighbours.Sraboni was the daughter of Habibullah and Sitara Begum. Following news of her death, friends confirmed to police that Sraboni had been the victim of bullying and they named the tormented teachers.Family members said that Sraboni went to her school and sat for Biology examination scheduled on the day as per school’s academic calendar.”As soon as the exam began, two teachers — Sultana and Tanzila Tahrin — took away Sraboni’s answer sheet on allegation that she was copying. She was expelled from the day’s exam,” her mother Sitara Begum said. She said the teachers later took her (Sraboni) to assistant headmaster Abdul Jabbar’s room where she was tortured by Kamrul Islam Munna, a part-time teacher of the school.”The incident took place in front of some members of the school managing committee but they did not come out to save her. Even Sraboni was forced to stand up at the playground for hours where she was also humiliated by other teachers as well as students,” alleged the victim’s mother.Sitara Begum said on return to residence, Sraboni just went to her room and locked the door. It seemed unusual for me. Sometime after, I knocked the door but did not get any response from her. Sensing something wrong, we broke the door with the help of tenants and saw her body hanging from the fan,” she said. Later, she was rushed to Narayanganj Sadar Health Complex where the duty doctors declared her dead.”As the news of incident spread, the managing committee of the school came to the hospital and asked us to take away Sraboni’s body from the hospital without autopsy,” said Sitara Begum, adding, “As we did not agree, the hospital authorities conducted the autopsy and handed over her body to us on Friday morning.”Sraboni’s body was taken to Feni in the evening for burial.”I’m accusing school authorities and teachers of my daughter’s death. I want justice,” she said.The wailing mother said her daughter was sensitive and quiet. She wanted to become a doctor. She also demanded immediate arrest of the tormenting teachers and their exemplary punishment.On instruction from Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, the school managing committee on Saturday suspended Munna who was accused for Sraboni’s death. It also called explanation on the incident from Nasrin within three days. The Education Minister told The New Nation on Saturday that he had already asked the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Narayanganj to look into the matter with instruction to arrest the tormenting teachers.”It is a very tragic and unfortunate incident. As soon as I came to know the incident on Saturday morning, I asked the DC to arrest the teachers involved with the humiliation and torture of the ill-fated student,” he said, adding that the DC was also asked to prepare a report on it.He warned that no teachers would be spared if they found involved in such activities in the educational institutions.When contacted, Officer in-Charge of Narayanganj Sadar Police Station Abdul Malek said, they are yet to receive any complaint from the victim’s family in this regard. If they lodged complaint to us, we will act accordingly.Sources said, the culprit teacher Munna, a charge-sheeted accused of Firoz murder case, went into hiding after the incident.