The father of an eight-year-old madrasa student found hanging in a teachers’ toilet in Jatrabari on Thursday questioned how his son could have died by suicide as a Dhaka court granted bail to one of three teachers accused in the case.
“An eight-year-old child cannot commit suicide. My son could not even tie a mosquito-net rope. How could he hang himself?” Ziaur Rahman said after the court granted bail to Hafez Mohammad Ullah.
He also questioned how the knot around his son’s neck had been tied, saying even a sensible person could not have made such a knot.
Ziaur Rahman was present at the court to oppose Mohammad Ullah’s bail and expressed frustration over the order, as well as the fact that the other two accused teachers have not been arrested.
“They are moving around openly. The law enforcement agencies are not arresting them,” he said.
Dhaka’s 15th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mizanur Rahman granted Mohammad Ullah bail after hearing arguments from both sides.
SM Abul Kalam (Azad), lawyer for the complainant, confirmed the matter.
The court granted Mohammad Ullah bail on a Tk1,000 bond until the police report is submitted.
Mohammad Ullah was arrested nearly two months after the case was filed and has remained in jail since then.
During the hearing, his lawyer, Abul Kalam Khan, sought bail, saying his client was not involved in the incident and had been implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy.
He said Mohammad Ullah was the sole earning member of his family and that his detention had left his family struggling.
“Any condition may be imposed for his bail,” the lawyer said.
Opposing the bail, Alhaz Borhan Uddin, chief prosecutor in the BDR mutiny case, said CCTV footage from the madrasa showed the child appearing cheerful and energetic on the afternoon of the incident.
He said it was suspicious that the eight-year-old was later found dead in the teachers’ toilet with a gamcha, a traditional thin cotton towel, around his neck.
“The accused killed the child. We oppose his bail,” he said.
Child found dead in teachers’ toilet
On December 20 last year, Mudachchir’s body was recovered from the teachers’ toilet on the fourth floor of Madrasatul Itqan Li Ulumil Quran in Kutubkhali, Jatrabari.
The child was found with a gamcha wrapped around his neck.
The following day, his father filed a murder case against three teachers — Maulana Qari Anisur Rahman, teacher-in-charge Hafez Maulana Zahirul Islam and Hafez Mohammad Ullah.
According to the case statement, Ziaur Rahman suspects that the accused may have attempted to sexually assault his son or that the child may have witnessed an incident involving them.
He alleged that the three accused, along with four or five unidentified people, killed Mudachchir sometime between 4:15pm and 6:30pm on December 20.
He further alleged that the body was hung from the ventilation of the teachers’ toilet with a gamcha to divert the investigation.
The other two accused have yet to be arrested, according to the father.
