Sharmin Academy founding principal, manager sued

Two separate cases were filed yesterday over a child abuse incident at Sharmin Academy after CCTV footage showing the school’s founding principal and manager beating and intimidating a child, triggering widespread public outrage.

The child’s mother filed a case with Paltan Police Station under Section 70 of the Children Act against Sharmin Jahan, the founding principal of Sharmin Academy in Nayapaltan, and the school’s manager, Pabitra Kumar, both seen in the viral video circulated on Wednesday.

According to Paltan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mostafa Kamal, the two accused are spouses. “They both went into hiding after the video drew widespread attention from lawyers and journalists. We are trying to arrest them.”

Earlier, police said they had spoken to the child’s family, who initially did not agree to file a case, citing security concerns.

The CCTV footage, dated January 18 at 12:51pm, shows a woman dragging a child dressed in a school uniform into an office room. She first slaps the child. A man who was already present in the room then joins in, grabbing the child by the throat at times and pressing his mouth shut at others.

The man is seen holding a stapler. The child is sometimes crying and at other times writhing in distress. The woman holds the child by the hands to restrain him. At one point, when the child spits on the woman’s sari, the man presses the child’s head against the spot and shakes it several times.

While the child is seen crying in fear, the woman is seen smiling and laughing.

The footage, which went viral on Wednesday, was shared on Facebook by Advocate Saleh Uddin, who described it as a “sample” of how children are punished at the institution.

Saleh later filed another case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain against Sharmin and Pabitra under Section 323 of the Penal Code, said Rifat Rahman, a lawyer for the complainant.

Speaking to the daily Prothom Alo yesterday at the Paltan Police Station, the boy’s mother said, “My child is still traumatised. Even in sleep, he suddenly screams, ‘Don’t stitch my mouth shut.’ He also keeps saying, ‘I won’t go to school anymore.’ He is so afraid that we might send him back to school that he doesn’t even want to stay with us. He has gone to his maternal grandparents’ home.”

The child’s father said that within just one week of enrolling in the school’s pre-play class, his son became a victim of such inhumane abuse. After watching the video, they were left stunned. Their son repeatedly said, “The uncle said if I tell at home, he will slit my throat. He will stitch my mouth shut.”

According to a 2011 Supreme Court judgment, corporal punishment in schools violates children’s constitutional rights. A Ministry of Education circular banned corporal punishment in schools that year.