Hope my husband will get bail tomorrow: Wife of schoolteacher Hriday Mondal

Wife of Hriday Chandra Mondal, who has been arrested and jailed on charges of "hurting religious sentiments", hoped that her husband will get bail tomorrow (April 10) and would be able to return to the school to take classes.

While talking with The Daily Star, Babita Hawlader, wife of schoolteacher Hriday Mondal urged the government to ensure security for them.

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Mondal, who taught mathematics and science at Binadpur Ramkumar High School at Munshiganj Sadar upazila, has been in jail for the last 17 days.

The hearing of the case that was filed against the teacher will be held tomorrow at Munshiganj court.

"We have been feeling insecure since the arrest of my husband. No one except journalists even inquired about us. We demanded the government to release my husband so that he can take classes at the school regularly," she said.

She added that the headmaster of the school issued a show-cause notice to her husband and the students complied with that but the outsiders could not.

"They (the outsiders) came to our house on that day, threw stones, hit the door with sticks, hurled abusive words and asked us to get out of the house," she complained.

Terming her husband as a good teacher, she said he has been teaching at the school for the last six years.

"I am 100 percent sure that my husband was instigated and implicated in a false case," she said firmly.

On March 20, Hriday had a conversation with students about the difference between science and religion. Later that day, a group of students handed the head teacher a written complaint, stating that Hriday made derogatory comments on Islam.

According to an audio clip that went viral on social media, Hriday had stated that "religion is a matter of faith while science looks at evidence".

On March 22, some students staged a demonstration and police detained Hriday. That night, the school's office assistant, Md Asad Miah, filed the case for "demeaning religion".