A Dhaka court on Friday sent Pabitra Kumar Barua, manager of Sharmin Academy in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan area, to jail in a case filed over alleged child abuse incident, setting the remand hearing for January 27.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid issued the order after the investigating officer brought the accused to court and requested a five-day remand. However, as Sub-Inspector Md. Noor Islam of Paltan Model Police Station, the investigating officer, was absent in court, the magistrate directed that the accused be sent to jail. SI Rokonuzzaman of the prosecution department confirmed the order.
Barua was arrested on Thursday night from Mirpur in the capital. His wife, Sharmin Jahan, who is also named in the case, is absconding, according to police.
According to the complaint, the child, aged four, was enrolled in Sharmin Academy’s play class two months ago and began attending classes on January 11. On January 18, the mother dropped her son at school and later found him pale, terrified, and crying.
CCTV footage showed Principal Sharmin Jahan allegedly dragging the child into her office and repeatedly hitting him, while Barua reportedly inserted a stapler into the child’s mouth and struck him while pressing him against a sofa. The abuse reportedly caused the child pain in his head, teeth, and ears, with partial hearing loss, and he later received medical treatment.
The mother, Sharmin Ferdousi, filed a case on Thursday at Paltan Police Station against both Barua and Sharmin.