Madrasa Teacher: Inform what actions taken against him for torturing boy

The High Court yesterday wanted to know what legal action was taken against a madrasa teacher for beating up an eight-year-old student mercilessly in Chattogram's Hathazari upazila recently.

The court asked the government authorities concerned to submit a report to it by Sunday, detailing the action taken against Maulana Yahya.

It also ordered the authorities to provide treatment to the child victim and security to his family.

The HC bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice Shahed Nuruddin came up with the suo moto (voluntary) order after Deputy Attorney General Abdullah-Al-Mahmud Bashar placed some newspaper reports on the incident before the bench.

DAG Bashar told The Daily Star that the HC wanted to know from the local administration of Chattogram whether any case was filed against Maulana Yahya, whether he was arrested and sacked from his job.

After examining the compliance report, the HC bench will pass necessary directives, DAG Bashar added.

"I have already talked to the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Chattogram and officer-in-charge of Hathazari Police Station over the phone about this issue. They have informed me that the victim's father has filed a case against Maulana Yahya under the Children Act, 2013, and Yahya has been arrested and produced before a lower court concerned. The court has sent Yahya to jail," he added.

Video footage showing the eight-year-old child, a student of Markazul Islami Academy Hafezia Madrasa, being beaten by Yahya has gone viral on social media.

In the footage, it is seen that the teacher is dragging the student by the neck into a room. Later, he starts beating the student violently with a cane, asking why he went outside the madrasa.

The little boy cried his heart out but was not spared.

The incident happened at the madrasa. The upazila administration, after being informed of the matter, rescued the boy and detained the teacher on Wednesday morning.

Following the incident, the madrasa authorities reportedly sacked Yahya.

In a separate incident in Mymensingh, a mobile court on Wednesday handed a seven-day jail sentence to a madrasa teacher on charges of beating a student in Nandail upazila.

The accused, Shafiqul Islam, 45, is a teacher of a local madrasa in Baliapara area of Nandail municipality.

He mercilessly beat a 11-year-old student of the same madrasa on Wednesday morning as he could not prepare his lessons, said Nandail Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Ershad Uddin.

On information, the victim's father rushed to the madrasa and rescued the boy. Then, he informed police about the incident.

Police went to the madrasa and detained the teacher. Hours later, the UNO conducted a mobile court drive there and handed the punishment to the teacher.

He was later sent to jail, said Mizanur Rahman Akanda, OC of Nandail Police Station.

[Our Mymensingh correspondent contributed to this report.]