Students at a Qawmi madrasa in Dhaka’s Banasree, where the hanging body of a 10-year-old boy was recovered Tuesday night, have alleged that the tragedy came after repeated complaints of sexual abuse were ignored by the institution.
Several students of Alokita Quran International Hifz Madrasa claimed that the accused, a fellow student identified as Md Shihab, had long been the subject of allegations involving sexual assault and coercion.
They said complaints were made to the madrasa authorities months earlier, but no effective action was taken.
The boy’s body was recovered from the madrasa in Block C of Banasree on Tuesday night. Police later said injury marks were found on his anus, and a case has since been filed accusing Shihab and several unidentified individuals of rape and abetment to suicide.
The incident has once again raised painful questions over the safety of children in residential religious institutions, where allegations of abuse, intimidation and cover-ups have surfaced repeatedly over the years.
Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh on Thursday, the madrasa director’s brother-in-law, Arafat Hossain, said many initially suspected the child had died after torture by teachers or staff.
“Incidents of abuse in residential institutions for children are not new,” he said.
Madrasa director Abdullah Al Mamun, however, insisted corporal punishment was banned at the institution.
“If anyone complains of beating, we take immediate action,” he said.
But as students began recounting their experiences, a different picture emerged.
According to several students, Shihab had previously made “indecent proposals” to younger boys and threatened them if they refused. They alleged that at least two students formally complained against him during Ramadan.
Police later learned of at least six alleged incidents involving Shihab, and the students involved reportedly gave statements to investigators.
Asked why no serious action had been taken after the earlier complaints, madrasa director Mamun admitted Shihab had only been warned.
“After the complaint, he was called and questioned. Crying, he said it was a mistake and that he would not do it again,” the madrasa director said.
Mamun added that Shihab’s relatives had been summoned and warned, but that the student was ultimately given another “chance” after requests from his family.
“We told him if anything like this happened again, we would not tolerate it even for a moment,” he said.
Even after the child’s body was recovered, Shihab was reportedly allowed to leave the madrasa on Tuesday afternoon. Police later arrested him from Ishwardi in Pabna on Wednesday.
Mamun also admitted he had appealed for leniency because of the accused student’s family circumstances.
“Shihab is the only son of the family, and their financial condition is not good. I requested the superintendent to see if the matter could somehow be settled mutually,” he told TIMES.
Human rights activist Alena Khan described the handling of the complaints as a grave institutional failure.
“The responsibility does not end with simply warning the guardian,” she told TIMES. “The accused should have been kept under close observation, and legal action should have been taken if the behaviour continued.”
“Where allegations arise repeatedly, verbal warnings are not enough. A responsible institution would have taken both legal and psychological measures,” she added.
Rampura Police Station officer-in-charge Jahangir Hossain said investigators initially believed the child died by suicide.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Harun Or Rashid said signs of “abnormal sexual intercourse” were found during the post-mortem examination.
The child’s mother has filed a case with Rampura Police Station accusing Shihab and several unidentified individuals of rape and abetment to suicide.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Hasibuzzaman has granted police five days to question Shihab in remand over the incident.
