Madrasa teacher arrested over sexual assault on minor in Kumarkhali

Police have arrested Md. Mostafizur Rahman, 25, a madrasa teacher, on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old male student in Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia. The suspect, a resident of Harinakundu Upazila in Jhenaidah, was apprehended from a Hafezia madrasa and Lillah boarding facility located in the Sadaki Union on Tuesday afternoon (July 21).

According to the victim's account, the assault occurred on the morning of July 12 while the child was asleep. Upon waking during the incident, the teacher placed a hand on the student's head and told him to treat the event as if it were merely a dream.

The incident surfaced on Tuesday following a separate altercation involving the physical beating of another student at the institution. Earlier attempts to keep the matter quiet had kept the children from speaking out immediately. Once the allegations emerged, the madrasa management committee convened an informal arbitration meeting to resolve the matter locally, attended by the committee president and a local BNP leader, among others.

News of the arbitration attempt triggered widespread local indignation, drawing crowd gatherings around the madrasa premises. Informed of the situation, a police team arrived at the scene around 5:30pm and took the accused teacher into custody. The victim and his father were also taken into police care for necessary procedures. The accused teacher has denied the allegations.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kumarkhali Police Station, Jamal Uddin, confirmed that serious criminal offenses cannot be subject to local arbitration. He stated that police acted immediately upon receiving information, adding that preliminary investigations corroborated the allegations. Legal proceedings regarding the case are currently underway.