A Dhaka court on Thursday placed Hafiz Md Zakaria, 35, one of two teachers arrested over the death of a child student at Rowazatul Ulum Hafizia Nurani Madrasa in Rayerbagh’s Jorakhamba area, on a three-day remand.
The court did not hear the remand plea against Hafiz Md Zubayer Ahmed, 20, after his lawyer claimed he was a minor. The court fixed August 18 to hear the matter.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Alam passed the order on Thursday, said Abdus Sabur, a sub-inspector of the prosecution department.
After the hearing, relatives of the deceased allegedly attacked the accused as police were taking them to jail from the court premises.
The body of Naim Sheikh, 13, was recovered from a bathroom on the third floor of the madrasah around noon on August 3. His mother, Nazma Begum, later filed a case against the two teachers.
Police arrested the two accused from the madrasa around 10:00pm the same day. They were sent to jail the following day.
On August 5, Kadamtali thana Sub-Inspector Amzad Hossain, also the investigating officer in the case, sought five days’ remand for the accused. The court scheduled Thursday for the hearing in their presence.
During Thursday’s hearing, Advocate Harun ur Rashid Khan, appearing for the complainant, argued in favour of granting remand. Zakaria’s lawyer, Emdadul Alam, sought cancellation of the remand plea and bail for his client.
Zubayer’s lawyer claimed that he was a minor, prompting the court to defer the hearing on his remand.
The judge also sought Zakaria’s statement. He told the court that Naim went to the bathroom after the noon prayer call but did not return.
“Even after being called, he did not open the bathroom door. Senior students at the madrasah then opened the door and found him hanging by his shirt sleeve,” Zakaria said.
He said he was in Madanpur at the time and returned to the madrasa after receiving a phone call about the incident.
“When I arrived, his body was still warm. I called a doctor, who came and told us that the child was no longer alive,” he said.
