Headmaster, son torture 4th grader

The headmaster of a government primary school and his son have allegedly taken photos of the half-nude body of a fourth-grader in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar.

The accused are Md Mantaj Ali, headteacher of Rajnagar Government Primary School, and his son Zakaria Ahmed, 15.

They also threatened to release the photos on social media if the girl discloses the matter, alleged the victim’s father in a written complaint filed with the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) yesterday.

According to the complaint, Headmaster Mantaj Ali, who is in his 40s, called the victim to his office room during school hours on September 4. When the girl went there, Mantaj and his son locked the door and started scolding her with abusive words.

At one stage, they forced the girl to remove clothes by threatening to kill her. Then the accused took photos of her half-nude body, alleged the victim’s father.

Talking to The Daily Star, the victim also gave the same description of the incident. 

Asked about the reason behind the incident, the victim’s father said he could not pay her daughter’s second term examination fee in time. 

Because of the delay, the headteacher beat her daughter with a cane on July 23. With injuries to different parts of her body, the girl had to be hospitalised, he said.

Three days later, on July 26, the father filed a written complaint with the UNO who directed the assistant thana education officer (ATEO) to investigate the incident. 

In the inquiry, Kulaura’s then ATEO Sourob Goshwami found the allegations true, and based on the report, the authorities transferred the headmaster to another school. The transfer order is supposed to take effect today (September 8).

“The headmaster got furious because of his transfer,” said the victim’s father. “That’s why he did such a brutal thing to my daughter.” 

The victim’s aunt, who was present at the school on September 4, said she followed the victim when she entered the headteacher’s room. 

“I looked through a broken window of the headteacher’s office room and saw that he (headteacher) and his son were taking photos of her. I immediately informed the matter to the school’s managing committee,” she said. 

Contacted, UNO of Kulaura upazila ATM Farhad Chowdhury said he received the new complaint and directed the education officer to probe the allegations.

Kulaura Upazila Primary Education Officer Md Ayub Uddin told The Daily Start that he started the investigation and would take necessary legal steps after completing it.

Meanwhile, the accused headteacher, Mantaj Ali, said the officials of the local health complex had asked for photos of the students, who would take de-worming pills. That is why, he took photos of the girl. But he denied taking half-nude photos.

Kulaura Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Nurul Haque said they did not issue such directives of taking photos of students for taking de-worming tablets. “The claim is false.”