The students of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College have taken to the school premises once more, protesting the arrest of Hasna Hena, the class teacher of ninth-grader Aritree Adhikari who committed suicide.
They flocked at the main gate of the school giving slogans with banners on Saturday (Dec 8) demanding her release.
The students demanded that Hena, who has been arrested on charges of provoking Aritree into taking her own life, is innocent.
A few protesters told Bangla Tribune that a probe has been opened to look into Aritree’s suicide but arresting her before the probe was completely against the law.
Students claimed that Hena was a good teacher and her arrest was nothing more than a conspiracy against her.
During a media call after the demonstration, students Sumaiya Mahmud Mitika, Lamia Iqbal and Adiba Hassan said that they were not satisfied with the education ministry’s investigation.
The CCTV footage clearly shows that she (Hena) just escorted Aritree to the principal’s room. This does not make her guilty. We cannot condone injustice to get justice for another cause, they said.
The students added that Hena’s arrest was not part of their six-point demand and they want her to be released without any condition.
Ending the protest for today, they announced that they will be taking to the school premises again on Sunday (Dec 9).
The body of ninth-grader Aritree Adhikari was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room locked from inside on Monday (Dec 3).
The family of the 15-year-old girl claimed she committed suicide after the principal insulted her and the parents of because she had cheated in an exam.
The principal refuted the allegation of insulting the parents and said that they were called only to inform about that Aritree was barred from an exam on Sunday (Dec 2) after she was found to be cheating by using a cell phone.
On Wednesday (Dec 5), school authorities sacked Acting Principal Nazneen Ferdous, class teacher Hasna Hena, and morning shift in-charge Zinat Akhtar after Aritree's suicide sparked anger.
Later that night, police arrested Hena from her Uttara home in the capital.