Punished for failure to pay, schoolgirl kills herself
A schoolgirl allegedly hanged herself in her room in Madhya Bagadi of Chandpur yesterday after evidently being punished by a teacher for failing to pay an exam fee of Tk 80.
Sathi Akhter, 14, a class-VIII student of Bagadi High School, was the second daughter of labourer Delwar Hossain.
“Sathi committed suicide by hanging herself from a wooden beam with a piece of cloth in her room around 2:00pm as her mother expressed their inability to pay the fee,” said Wayana Begum, a relative of Sathi.
Shayla Begum, Sathi's mother, said Sathi hanged herself when she went to her neighbour's to borrow the money.
Her younger daughter discovered Sathi hanging from the beam, relatives said.
On Sunday, Md Alauddin, an assistant teacher of the school, allegedly punished Sathi and a few others by compelling them to stay standing for about one hour in the sun on the school's playground.
Later, other teachers took the girls into their classes when they were exhausted.
Some students of the school said aggrieved locals hearing the news of Sathi's death stormed the school and vandalised its doors, windows.
All teachers and the students left the school and the school has been closed.
Teacher Alauddin did not pick up his phone when this correspondent called for his comment but Kamrul Islam, head teacher of the school, said he had heard about the incident.
“We will look into the matter. If we find the teacher guilty, we will take legal action against him,” he said, adding that he was in Dhaka on his way to perform hajj.
Officer-in-Charge Wali Ullah of Chandpur Model Police Station said they would take action after investigating the incident.
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