Child tied up and beaten: allegations against madrasa teachers

In Jiyanagar Upazila, three teachers of a Hefz Madrasa have been accused of tying up an 11-year-old student by his hands and feet and beating him with a cane. Though the matter was resolved through local arbitration, the victim's family has expressed anger as no punitive action was taken against the accused.

The victim, Julhas Sardar, 11, son of Miraj Sardar from Pattashi village, has been studying in the Hefz department of Pattashi Darul Uloom Nesar Uddin Madrasa for about two years.

According to the complaint, about a week ago the three teachers tied the boy's hands and feet in a room of the madrasa and beat him with a cane on the allegation of 'bad behaviour' with classmates. The accused teachers are Nazima Talim, Sakib Hossain and Osman Hossain. When the incident became known, the boy's uncle Jamal Sardar was called and the child was sent home.

Seven days later, an arbitration meeting was held on the madrasa premises on Tuesday. Those present included Maulana Ali Hossain, Amir of Jiyanagar Upazila Jamaat-e-Islami, Kabir Hossain Khan, president of Pattashi Union BNP, and Md Alamgir Hossain, president of the Madrasa Management Committee. However, the three accused teachers were not invited to the meeting.

The salish decided to pay 5,000 taka for the student's medical treatment. But the victim's family and locals expressed dissatisfaction as no punishment was given to the accused teachers.

Julhas's uncle Jamal Sardar said, "Even after we reported the torture of my nephew, the decision was only to cover the medicine cost. No teacher was punished. We were forced to accept the salish verdict under pressure from the villagers."

Maulana Ali Hossain, who attended the salish, said the student was punished for doing 'bad things' and the matter was later resolved locally.

Md Alamgir Hossain, president of the Madrasa Management Committee, said that after learning of the incident, show-cause notices were issued to the concerned teachers in a committee meeting. He did not clarify whether any further administrative or legal action would be taken.