Local people in Bharara union of Pabna Sadar upazila detained a teacher, Abu Yusuf Pramanik, and handed him over to police after a madrasa student accused him of attempting to rape her. After the incident, an angry crowd vandalised and set fire to the madrasa and the accused teacher’s house.
The incident took place late on Thursday night (22 October) at a Nurani girls’ madrasa next to Padma Hospital in the Daribhaudanga area.
The accused, Abu Yusuf, is the son of the late Yakub Ali of Khalishpur village in Sadullahpur union of Pabna Sadar upazila. He was the director of the girls’ madrasa, where about a hundred and fifty female students study.
According to local sources, before the call to the dawn prayer, a student left her room to go to the toilet, and the teacher Yusuf forcibly took her into a room. The student alleges he tried to rape her there. Hearing her screams, local people came forward and the accused tried to flee. He was then detained and the police were called.
The student alleges that she had been raped several times before after being made unconscious, and claims a sedative was used to do this. She also alleges she was made to take contraceptive pills afterwards. She claims that several other students at the madrasa suffered the same kind of abuse, and says she was threatened in various ways if she told anyone. She has demanded the maximum punishment for the accused.
As news of the incident spread, tension rose in the area. At one point an angry crowd vandalised the madrasa and the house where the accused lived and set them on fire.
Relatives of the accused teacher’s wife have also accused him of having killed his wife in the past. They claim the killing was over an extramarital affair.
Sanjoy Kumar Saha, inspector (investigation) at Pabna Sadar police station, confirmed the incident and said the accused teacher had been detained. The process of filing a case of attempted rape is under way, he said.
Pabna Superintendent of Police Ali Ashraf said the allegations were being verified and legal action would be taken subject to the investigation. The arson and vandalism at the madrasa are also being investigated, he said.
The area has remained tense since the incident, and additional police have been deployed to keep the situation under control.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report