Teacher accused of humiliating class 2 student with forced haircut in Gazipur

Allegations have been raised against a teacher at a private educational institution in Gazipur over humiliating and forcibly cutting the hair of a class 2 student.

It has also been alleged that the child was expelled from the school this afternoon after the family submitted a written complaint to the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) seeking justice.

The incident took place last month at Human Bud Tutorial, located in Durbati area of Kaliganj municipality.

In a complaint submitted to the UNO, the nine-year-old student’s father, Sajib Akand, said that on the morning of March 15, Arabic teacher of the institution, Rukun Uddin, 35, pulled his son out of the classroom, accusing him of having long hair. The teacher then took the child to the washroom and, in front of others, cut his hair in a humiliating manner using scissors.

The child was sent back to the classroom in that condition, where classmates laughed at him. The child became mentally distressed and returned home in tears, later informing his mother about the incident.

Following the complaint, an expulsion notice was issued by acting head teacher Ummay Hafsa, saying that the student was expelled for “disciplinary violations”.

The child’s family claims that the expulsion is an act of retaliation for filing the complaint regarding the abuse.

Attempts to reach Md Mujibur Rahman, founder and director of the institution, for comments were unsuccessful.

However, the founder’s son and school supervisor, Marufur Rahman, told The Daily Star that he was present during the incident.

He said that the decision to cut the child’s hair was taken by the school authorities. “His hair was cut in the washroom during Arabic class. We do not have a professional barber at our school, so the hair could not be cut properly. Despite repeated warnings to the guardians, the child’s hair was not cut,” he added.

He further said after the incident, the child became unruly. “That is why he was expelled from the school today.”

Meanwhile, the child’s father, Sajib, told The Daily Star, “They humiliated my son and then expelled him from the school. My son was expelled because I protested. This kind of incident has happened with many other students, but no one protested before.”

Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer ATM Kamrul Islam told The Daily Star that they have received the complaint regarding the forced haircut and expulsion. The upazila education officer has been instructed to investigate the matter, and necessary action will be taken after the investigation, he said.