A woman in Panchagarh married off a minor house help after her son raped her.
The incident was reported from the district’s Tetulia upazila, while a case was still in progress against Nasima Akhter and her son Nahid Hasan Tanvir at the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal.
Judge Mehedi Hasan Talukder of the court ordered the district’s primary education officer to take legal action against Nasima, who is also the headmistress of a local school, within seven working days on April 7.
The matter was disclosed to the public and reporters on Wednesday by Public Prosecutor Azizar Rahman Aju of the court.
“The rape survivor’s family filed a case against Nasima and Tanvir under the Women and Child Repression Prevention Act. The matter was kept a secret till a charge sheet against the two was filed in court by police,” he added.
According to the case statement, the 13-year-old house help used to live in Nasima’s house and was an eighth-grader at a local school.
About seven months ago, Tanvir raped the house help when nobody was at home, after promising her marriage.
When Nasima got to know of the incident, she physically assaulted the house help and threw her out of the house.
The rape survivor’s family filed a case against the mother-son duo with Tetulia Model police station on August 13 last year.
In the meantime, Nasima married off the girl in order to end the case. She also informed the court that she and the plaintiff had reached an understanding over the issue.
District Primary Education Officer Shahidul Islam said: “I received a copy of the court order on Sunday. Later, I sent a copy of the court order to the deputy director of Rangpur Primary Education Office.”
Departmental action will be taken against the headmistress, he added.