Abrar Hussain of DOT
A group of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College students took to the streets yesterday, demanding the release of teacher Hasna Hena, who they claim was unfairly sent to prison over the death of student Aritry Adhikary.
The students held a demonstration in front of the school gate on Bailey Road on Friday afternoon.
The demonstrators called for the unconditional release of the ‘innocent’ teacher and restoring her reputation.
A class 11 student named Rose who joined the protest told bdnews24.com:
“The teacher they have arrested is not connected to the Aritry incident in any way. Her name was not involved in the incident. I believe she is a victim of the current situation,” a class 11 student told BDnews.
The demonstrators also emphasized that they want ‘proper justice’ over Aritry’s death.
“But we also want to ensure that no teacher is unfairly harassed.”
The renowned Dhaka school fell into unrest after a class 9 student Aritry committed suicide on Monday.
It was alleged that she had taken her own life because the principal had called in the girl’s parents and ‘humiliated them’ when she was caught with a mobile phone during an exam.
However, the school authority defended itself by saying she was caught cheating on the final exam on Sunday.
Hasna Hena was Aritry’s class teacher. She was named alongside Viqarunnisa Acting Principal Nazneen Ferdous and Morning Shift In-Charge Zinnat Akhtar in the case filed by Aritry’s father over her death.
The three teachers were fired and had their MPO scrapped after a recommendation by Ministry of Education of probe. Hasna Hena was later arrested.