Relief for rape victim

The authorities of a Habiganj school that prevented a teenage rape victim from sitting for her final exams allowed her to sit for a test yesterday.

“The 13-year-old girl appeared for religious studies examination that started at 10:00am,” Saiful Islam, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Bahubal upazila, told this correspondent over the phone.

The UNO said he came to know about the incident from a report titled “Double blow” run by The Daily Star yesterday.

“We held a meeting with the authorities of Shahjalal High School so that she can sit for the rest of her examinations,” Saiful said.

The UNO also issued a show-cause notice to the headmaster of the school asking him to explain in seven days why the girl was not allowed to sit for the exams and why she was not given permission to attend classes.

Also, the school management committee was asked to retract the decision of issuing transfer certificate to the girl within seven days.

Headmaster Ayub Ali said the school management committee would take steps so that she could sit for the three exams she had missed.

The seventh-grader from Bhadeswar union in the upazila was raped allegedly by two men on the night of July 20.

After the incident, the school authorities asked her not to attend classes. They accused her of having “bad character” and that “there will be a negative impact on other students”.

They also refused to take fees for her final exams that started on November 29.