Teacher Accused of Assaulting Student Over Reading Failure
Photo Collected
A teacher at Bagduli High School in Rajbari’s Pangsha Upazila allegedly beat an eighth-grade student severely for failing to recite lessons, leaving him injured and sparking outrage among locals. The agitated community held the accused teacher, Abdul Ahad Khan, captive for approximately two hours on Tuesday. The victim’s family and villagers are demanding the teacher’s dismissal.
The incident occurred in a classroom at the school, located in the Maura Union of the upazila. Khan, a social science teacher who joined the institution in 2019 through the NTRCA, is reportedly a resident of Khorkhoria village in Mrigi Union. The injured student is the son of Munshi Zahidul Islam from Malinchi village. Following initial treatment at Pangsha Upazila Health Complex, the student was transferred to Faridpur for advanced medical care on Tuesday evening.
According to reports, Khan was questioning students on their lessons when he resorted to caning several who could not answer. In one instance, he is accused of beating a student and kicking him to the floor for allegedly misbehaving. News of the assault quickly spread, drawing local residents and the student’s family to the school. To prevent further escalation, the headmaster reportedly confined Khan to the school library. The situation reportedly de-escalated after about two hours when the teacher assured appropriate action would be taken.
Munshi Zahidul Islam, the student’s father, stated he found his son bleeding from multiple welts on his back upon arriving at the school. “He could have called me if there was any wrongdoing, or filed a complaint. He could have even expelled my son from school,” Islam said, expressing his inability to accept such “torture” over an academic lapse. He described the teacher’s actions as a “moral degradation,” noting that while other students received two strokes of the cane, his son was subjected to repeated beatings and kicks.
Khan did not respond to multiple calls for comment. However, he reportedly told local journalists on Tuesday that he had disciplined the student for failing to recite his lessons and for using abusive language towards him. The student, Khan claimed, later expressed remorse for his behavior.
Abdul Khalek, the acting headmaster, confirmed that the teacher caned several students for not knowing their lessons. He added that one student allegedly grabbed the cane and swore at the teacher, prompting a more severe reaction. Khalek stated that the teacher’s actions were inappropriate and that Khan has been given seven days to provide a satisfactory explanation. The matter has been reported to the upazila secondary education officer and the UNO.
Pangsha Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Md. Rifatul Haque confirmed he has been informed of the incident. He stated that preliminary findings suggest the teacher was reprimanding students for poor academic performance when one student allegedly swore at him, leading to the teacher losing his temper and physically assaulting the student. The UNO has summoned the student’s guardian, the accused teacher, the headmaster, and several witnesses for a hearing, after which appropriate measures will be taken.
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