Madrasa teacher sent to jail for sexually abusing 11-year-old

A Qawmi madrasa teacher has been sent to jail for sexually abusing a 11-year-old student in Chilahati union under Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh. The 48-year-old teacher has been identified as Qari Md Shahidul Islam, from the sadar upazila of Nilphamari. A team of Debiganj police detained Shahidul from Nurul Alam Jamia Rahmania Qawmi Madrasa on Sunday night, with the help of locals and the victim's relatives. According to a case filed on Monday morning, the teacher has been molesting his students for a very long time. On November 15, he called the 11-year-old, who had been admitted barely six weeks ago, to his room and sexually abused him. After the assault, the teacher threatened the victim with dire consequences if he spoke of the incident to anyone. “He (Shahidul) had molested five to six other students in the past, but none of them complained because they were afraid,” the case dockets read. On Saturday, the victim revealed the matter to his father who was visiting the madrasa. The aggrieved father returned to Nilphamari immediately with his traumatized son. When news broke of the assault on Sunday, locals laid siege to the madrasa, confining the accused to his madrasa room. Police were informed promptly, who arrived and detained him. Debiganj police station Officer-in-Charge Aminul Islam said Shahidul was produced in front of a local judge, who ordered them to send him to jail. Madrasa Superintendent Nurul Alam could not be reached over the phone despite repeated attempts.