A group of over 100 guardians of the students of a girls’ school in Rajshahi city on Tuesday continued their protest for the second consecutive day, demanding the expulsion of an assistant teacher allegedly for molesting their children.
Witnesses said that the guardians and their children gathered in front of Shahid Nazmul Huq Girls’ High School in the city’s Kadirganj area at about 9:00am with a banner reading ‘We want a safe school’.
They later blocked the road adjacent to the school for several hours.
At the protest, the guardians alleged that the latest incident of molesting occurred on September 2, when assistant teacher Shahabub Alam groped a class IV schoolgirl on the staircases after school hours, clamping on her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help.
They also alleged that the abused girl had since stopped attending classes due to fear.
The parents said that they lodged a complaint against the accused teacher with the school’s head teacher on Sunday, and staged a demonstration on the school campus on Monday, but no visible action was taken against the accused teacher.
Later, they postponed their demonstration after the school’s acting head teacher had assured them of suspending the accused teacher, witnesses said.
Shahabub Alam, however, denied the accusations and claimed that he was being framed.
Acting headmaster Abul Kalam Azad could not be reached for his comment despite repeated attempts over the phone.
He, however, said on Monday that he received a written complaint from guardians alleging misconduct and corporal punishment by Shahabub Alam, but the September 2 molestation incident was not mentioned in the complaint.
He also said that an inquiry would be held into the allegations.
