Police Find Preliminary Truth in Abuse of Seven-Year-Old Madrasa Student in Tongi, Child Gives Statement in Court
Police have found preliminary truth in the widely discussed incident of sexual abuse of a seven-year-old madrasa student in Tongi, Gazipur. Police said the child has given a statement in court describing the incident. Md Arifur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Tongi West Police Station, confirmed the matter on Saturday night. With this confirmation, the incident has now moved beyond the stage of allegation to a more important stage of investigation.
OC Md Arifur Rahman said the abused child gave a statement in court about the incident on October 22. In addition, the police investigation has found preliminary truth in the allegation of abuse. The police statement suggests that a basis for the allegation has been found from both directions — the child's own description and the police's preliminary investigation.
Several cases are now ongoing over this incident. The child's father filed a case at the police station as complainant over the abuse of his daughter inside the madrasa. Related accounts say the accused madrasa teacher in that case has been arrested and sent to jail. In other words, the legal process over the main abuse allegation has already advanced.
On the other hand, the madrasa authorities have filed two separate cases alleging attack on the madrasa, vandalism, beating of teachers and staff, and looting of 17 lakh taka. OC Arifur Rahman further said police are continuing raids to arrest the child's father, who is an accused in a separate case over the attack and vandalism at the madrasa. As a result, over the same incident the father is a complainant on one side and an accused in another case on the other — a complex situation has been created.
However, the child's father, Shahjalal Rumi, presented his own position regarding the beating of the madrasa teacher. At around 3am on Friday night, he demanded before media workers an impartial investigation into the allegations raised against him, as well as fair justice for what happened to his daughter. By coming before the media in the deep of night, he tried to place his statement in public.
Denying the allegations of vandalism at the madrasa and looting 17 lakh taka against him, Rumi said at a press conference: 'Where did I take 17 lakh taka from? Let that be verified by checking the CCTV footage. How so much money is kept in a madrasa also needs to be clarified. Let there be a fair investigation into the allegations raised against me.' This demand for CCTV footage verification was the strongest part of his statement.
Shahjalal Rumi further said: 'I informed the principal about the incident three days earlier. But he repeatedly said he knew nothing. I waited for a long time outside his room. Later, when I went to talk to him, he behaved as if he did not want to meet me at all.' According to this statement, the complaint had reached the head of the institution before the incident became public, but the father claims there was no response.
The child's father said: 'I went to the madrasa to seek justice for my child, not to create a mob. The institution's authorities claim that I created a mob and went to occupy a flat. Why would I create a mob? As a father, I went to seek justice for what happened to my child.' In this statement, the father directly rejected the allegations in the counter-cases.
Amid these contradictory statements from the two sides, the police announcement of finding preliminary truth has added a new dimension to the incident. The child's statement in court will be considered one of the most important pieces of testimony in the case. At the same time, the investigation into the counter-allegations of vandalism and looting will proceed separately, where the demand to verify CCTV footage may become important.
The Tongi incident has come to light at a time when allegations of student abuse in various educational institutions across the country are being widely discussed, and everyone from the religious affairs minister to various organisations is talking about strict action. In that broader context, the police finding of preliminary truth in the Tongi incident has intensified this discussion further.
In the next stage, the police's full investigation report, the progress of the main case based on the child's statement, and the results of the investigations into the counter-cases will determine the final picture of the incident. Police raids to arrest the child's father are also ongoing. The trial for the abuse of a seven-year-old child and the counter-allegations against her father — both processes will now proceed through the law, and all eyes will remain on that.
