VIQARUNNISA STUDENT ‘SUICIDE’

Teacher Hasna Hena gets bail

A Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College teacher Hasna Hena in a case filed on charges of provoking a ninth-grader student Aritree Adhikari to commit suicide.

Judge Baki Billah of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court passed the order after Hasna Hena's lawyer Jahangir Alam filed an appeal seeking her bail in the case.

The court granted her bail until the filing of a police report, said the lawyer.

Class-IX student Aritree reportedly committed suicide at their Shantinagar residence in the capital on December 3 after allegedly being rebuked by teachers for using mobile phone during an examination.

Victim's father Dilip Adhikari filed a case against three teachers of the school.

Hena, a morning-shift class teacher of Aritree, was arrested in the case on Wednesday. A Dhaka court denied Hena bail and sent her to jail the following day.

A section of students of the institution went on wildcat protests staging demonstrations and demanding release of the teacher.

Yesterday morning, the students went on a hunger strike in front of the girls’ higher secondary school campus on the Bailey Road to push for the release of Hasna Hena.

At 1:00pm principal Hasina Begum with some other teachers persuaded the students to end their hunger strike and offered them water. The principal told the students, “We came here because you people have love towards us and we are very happy with this. But it is unfair that we will be sitting in the class and you will be on hunger strike out of class. We all will do it together.”

She further said, “The whole thing is under legal process and it will be treated legally. We have full confidence in the law. If you continue the movement, it will hurt the reputation of the organization.”

The protestors have been agitating since December 6. They announced that they would start a hunger strike around 11:00am as they were staging demonstrations for the fourth consecutive day yesterday.

 Meanwhile, a three-member delegation went to the education ministry with a memorandum on the issue.

Earlier, around 200 present and former students, some teachers and guardians joined yesterday’s protest near the main entrance of the institution on the capital’s Bailey Road. Although, some parents are supporting the protest, others have urged the students to return to their classes.

Some former students joined the agitation and took to the streets, chanting slogans like “Our teacher should be in school, why is she in jail?”, “Hasna Hena madam is our mother, we want our mother freed”, “We want justice” and “Hasna Hena madam is not guilty” and demanded the release of their teacher.

Agitating students claimed that she was not involved in humiliating the ninth-grader, Aritry Adhikary, and his parents. According to them, she was made an accused in the case only because she was the class teacher of Aritry.

Aritree was found hanging from the ceiling of her home in Dhaka’s Shantinagar area on December 3, hours after she and her parents were allegedly humiliated by some teachers of the school.

Family members of the girl claimed that she ended her life after being insulted by the school authorities in the presence of her parents for using a mobile phone during an exam.

The suicide reportedly exposed the school’s mishandling of students and teachers’ alleged misdemeanour with parents and guardians.

Aritree’s father Dilip Adhikary has blamed three teachers—Hasna Hena, Zinat Ara, and Nazneen Ferdous—for their role in his daughter’s suicide.

 

VIQARUNNISA STUDENT SUICIDE

Teacher Hasna Hena gets bail

A Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College teacher Hasna Hena in a case filed on charges of provoking a ninth-grader student Aritree Adhikari to commit suicide. Judge Baki Billah of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court passed the order after Hasna Henas lawyer Jahangir Alam filed an appeal seeking her bail in the case. The court granted her bail until the filing of a police report, said the lawyer. Class-IX student Aritree reportedly committed suicide at their Shantinagar residence in the capital on December 3 after allegedly being rebuked by teachers for using mobile phone during an examination. Victims father Dilip Adhikari filed a case against three teachers of the school. Hena, a morning-shift class teacher of Aritree, was arrested in the case on Wednesday. A Dhaka court denied Hena bail and sent her to jail the following day. A section of students of the institution went on wildcat protests staging demonstrations and demanding release of the teacher. Yesterday morning, the students went on a hunger strike in front of the girls higher secondary school campus on the Bailey Road to push for the release of Hasna Hena. At 1:00pm principal Hasina Begum with some other teachers persuaded the students to end their hunger strike and offered them water. The principal told the students, We came here because you people have love towards us and we are very happy with this. But it is unfair that we will be sitting in the class and you will be on hunger strike out of class. We all will do it together. She further said, The whole thing is under legal process and it will be treated legally. We have full confidence in the law. If you continue the movement, it will hurt the reputation of the organization. The protestors have been agitating since December 6. They announced that they would start a hunger strike around 11:00am as they were staging demonstrations for the fourth consecutive day yesterday. Meanwhile, a three-member delegation went to the education ministry with a memorandum on the issue. Earlier, around 200 present and former students, some teachers and guardians joined yesterdays protest near the main entrance of the institution on the capitals Bailey Road. Although, some parents are supporting the protest, others have urged the students to return to their classes. Some former students joined the agitation and took to the streets, chanting slogans like Our teacher should be in school, why is she in jail?, Hasna Hena madam is our mother, we want our mother freed, We want justice and Hasna Hena madam is not guilty and demanded the release of their teacher. Agitating students claimed that she was not involved in humiliating the ninth-grader, Aritry Adhikary, and his parents. According to them, she was made an accused in the case only because she was the class teacher of Aritry. Aritree was found hanging from the ceiling of her home in Dhakas Shantinagar area on December 3, hours after she and her parents were allegedly humiliated by some teachers of the school. Family members of the girl claimed that she ended her life after being insulted by the school authorities in the presence of her parents for using a mobile phone during an exam. The suicide reportedly exposed the schools mishandling of students and teachers alleged misdemeanour with parents and guardians. Aritrees father Dilip Adhikary has blamed three teachersHasna Hena, Zinat Ara, and Nazneen Ferdousfor their role in his daughters suicide.