A teacher at a school in Gaibandha has been accused of beating up 35 of his students after losing his pen during class.
The incident occurred at Golakati High School in Fulchari upazila at noon on Thursday.
The students blockaded a road in the area demanding justice over the incident.
Later, the school authorities suspended the teacher in question, Anisur Rahman, 55.
The injured students – eighth-graders of the school – were given first aid.
According to them, Anisur kept his pen on the desk at the start of the second period and started questioning the students about it as he could not find it at the end of class.
He became furious when the students could not answer him.
At one point, Anisur started caning the students. Some of them even started bleeding from their palms and fingers.
Several other teachers and some students’ parents came to the class and rescued them.
The students later took up position on the road in front of the school demanding that Anisur be punished.
When contacted, Anisur said he had called on the students to “demonstrate their honesty”, but they had not been honest.
But he acknowledged that he had been wrong to beat them up, adding that he had apologized to the students as well as the school’s governing body.
Fulchari Upazila Parishad Chairman GM Selim Parvez said: “I went to the spot and had a discussion with the teachers of the school and the members of the [school] committee. The accused teacher was later suspended.”
The headmaster of the school, Md Mostafizur Rahman, held out the assurance that the school would take necessary action against Anisur after a proper investigation into the incident.