Authorities at the madrasah in Tongi, where a teacher has been arrested for allegedly inflicting a "bad touch" on one of his female students in Grade 1, have continued to insist that the teacher in question only promised to kiss his students as a reward for doing well in their exams, and never actually followed through on it.
This line has also been picked up by the society of alem-ulema at large, many of whom have spoken out against the student’s father for confronting the teacher and subjecting him to a public thrashing before he was arrested at the madrasah premises.
At the same time, many members of the same community have maintained that even if the teacher, Muslemuddin Ahmed, did kiss the girl, he was within his rights to do so as long as there was no ill intent behind the act.
According to the case statement, the alleged sexual harassment took place on the stairs of the madrasah’s ground floor last Monday.
Police have said their preliminary findings supported the allegations.
That has not stopped a wave of death threats from the community of Islamic scholars, and police cases against the father, Shahjalal Rumi, including one filed by the madrasah authorities for alleged vandalism at the madrasah premises, assaulting teachers, and looting Tk17 lakh from the principal’s office, as well as five mobile phones.
Almas Hossain, the madrasa’s founder and principal, has been claiming without any evidence to back him up that the incident had been orchestrated to damage the institution’s reputation. He also alleged that a group of 15 to 16 people, led by the child’s father, entered the madrasa and assaulted the teacher. He also said some of them were Hindus and suspected Rumi of being a "RAW agent".
Principal Almas said other teachers and security personnel were also beaten when they tried to intervene. He further alleged that the group vandalised the office and looted Tk17 lakh and 5 mobile phones.
Shahjalal Rumi, in a late-night press conference on Friday, admitted to breaking the glass top of a table he had struck in anger when he showed up there on Wednesday, but the offending teacher wasn’t being produced before him. He also promised to compensate the madrasah for that financially. He has denied the allegations of looting.
It is difficult to see how anyone could have looted the madrasah in those circumstances, in the presence of so many people. Even police arrived later to calm things down and take Muslemuddin away.
That he assaulted Muslemuddin is not in question. But he denied showing up with so many people and trying to create a "mob". He said he only took three of his friends with him. It may be noted that Almas Hossain in subsequent statements, seems to be dialling down that number as well.
From 15-16 on day one of the incident coming to light (Thursday), he has now come down to saying Rumi and his associates numbered 5-7.
But he has continued to insist that no kiss or "bad touch" - a somewhat euphemistic term for sexual harassment that parents may use to teach children how to recognise sexual abuse or harassment - actually occurred.
Muslemuddin apparently only promised to kiss all his students, that none of them complained to their parents, except Rumi’s daughter, and he in fact distributed chocolates among them.
In this situation, an important account has come forward of the victim’s mother, that is Shahjalal Rumi’s wife. It is important because it was to her that the daughter opened up after the incident last Monday, and she was the one handling the complaint to the school authorities.
She connected with fitness influencer A S Taj’s popular podcast show on Saturday, through her husband, who was there in the studio, to present her version of events, which is the closest we are going to get to the victim girl’s own version.
In her statement that lasted close to six minutes, the mother describes that on Monday, her daughter returned from her special Arabic class at the madrasah visibly upset, scared, and tearful. When prompted, the daughter revealed that her teacher, referred to as "Muslem Sir," had subjected her to "bad touch".
According to the mother's account, the teacher allegedly grabbed her daughter in the stairs after other students had left, knowing there were no CCTV cameras in that specific location, and kissed her in multiple places.
What made it all the more egregious was that the teacher also threatened the child with consequences if she told anyone. He also apparently tried to convince her that even if she did, no one would believe her since the stairs were not covered by CCTV and there would be no video evidence.
The mother initially contacted a female staff member (Luna Madam) who suggested giving the teacher another chance, which the mother found unacceptable. So she next spoke to the Vice Principal, Sakib Salehuddin, who was on holiday in his village home, but promised to install CCTV cameras on the stairs as well, and to ensure that a female teacher was always present during classes conducted by male instructors.
Both measures would be implemented immediately, the victim's mother was promised.
But the next day, on Tuesday, she learned that neither measure had been implemented.
Muslemuddin continued to take classes like before, and even allegedly told the daughter he "liked her," and obtained her home contact information.
That same day, the victim’s grandfather, Rumi’s father-in-law, informed the school principal, Almas Hossain, of what happened, according to the mother. Yet he has continued to deny knowing anything. Even on the day that Rumi turned up at the madrasah, he kept denying any knowledge of what had happened.
That day the mother also alleged that Muslemuddin even showed up at their home after school, repeatedly knocking and demanding the door be opened, which the mother did not wish to do since she was there alone with her children.
Rumi has separately said Muslemuddin turned up at his house on two occasions to ask for forgiveness. On one of these occasions, Muslemuddin ran into Rumi’s father-in-law and apologised profusely for what he had done, promising never to do it again. Rumi points to this as one of the incriminating pieces of evidence.
“Why would he ask for forgiveness if he did nothing wrong?” he asks.
When he showed up at the madrasah on Wednesday, he was shocked to see the lack of initiative on the part of the authorities, and he was particularly triggered by the principal’s nonchalance, in particular his referring to the entire incident as a “silly matter”.
Later, once he manages to confront Muslemuddin, the videos circulating on social media show him visibly seething as the teacher presents his version. Once he gets to the part where he mentions “ekta chumu” (one kiss), the father of two cannot hold it in any longer, and his anger instantly explodes in the form of a rapier-like right hand that lands like a sidewinder on the teacher’s face and head, instantly felling him.
He then goes to town on him, kicking him on the ground, putting him in a headlock, punching at his guts and allegedly drawing blood from his skull, although the videos didn’t capture it.
Throughout this time, he can be heard saying “Kisher chumu re? Kisher chumu?” (“What do you mean kiss? What kiss?”).
That line has now become a rallying cry for many of his supporters on social media, where his actions have drawn huge support from many parents in particular, even as he continues dealing with threats of violence and arrest.
