School director beaten; Cop takes away

Following the suicide of a school girl who had allegedly been subjected to mental abuse at a school in Kadamtali, Dhaka, students blockaded the institution’s founder. After a prolonged protest, the founder was beaten as police took him away.

Students demonstrated in front of the college’s new building from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

Earlier, on Wednesday afternoon, a 16-year-old school girl named Sabikun Nahar allegedly committed suicide after suffering mental abuse at a school in the Nasir Uddin Road area of Kadamtali, Dhaka.
The deceased Sabikun was a tenth-grade student at Bright School and College in Dhaka. Her father’s name is Khalilur Rahman, and the family’s village home is in Narsingdi.

Following the incident, students blockaded and protested against the founder and principal of Bright School and College in the Donia area of Dhaka. They alleged that Sabikun Nahar took her own life due to “pressure and mistreatment by school authorities.”

A female classmate of Sabikun from the humanities section of class ten told the media that on Wednesday they had model tests in Bengali and Economics. Sabikun may not have been well prepared for the Economics exam and was sitting quietly during the test.

“At one point she started drawing something on her answer sheet. When the Economics teacher noticed this, she took the answer sheet and sent it to school founder Masud Hasan Liton. He scolded and mistreated Sabikun for a long period of time.”

The student further said, “Sabikun’s guardian was also called in and subjected to verbal abuse and mistreatment. Sabikun then returned home and took her own life.”

Following Sabikun’s suicide, allegations of mental abuse have been raised against the institution’s director and several female teachers. Students and parents claim that students had been subjected to humiliation, intimidation, and mental pressure over a long period of time.

One parent alleged that institution director Masud Rana Liton and teachers Mahmuda, Sanjida, and Rifat used to put students under various forms of mental pressure. Even for minor matters, parents would be called to the school and publicly humiliated in front of everyone.

Affected students said they were beaten with or without reason and frequently threatened with expulsion. Many students suffered mental breakdowns as a result of these incidents.