A court in Dhaka accepted the charge sheet submitted against suspended teachers of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNSC), in a case filed over “provoking the suicide” of ninth-grader Aritree Adhikari in December last year.
Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury passed the order on Tuesday (Apr 30) after scrutinizing the case dockets and other relevant documents in the case, reports the Dhaka Tribune.
The court also relieved Aritree’s class teacher Hasna Hena of the charge sheet as per the investigating officer's appeal for her discharge.
Addressing the court, Aritree's father, Dilip Adhikari, said that he did not have "any complaints about the charge sheet”.
Upon accepting the charge sheet, the magistrate sent it to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Zahedul Kabir, and transferred the case documents to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s court for its disposal via trial.
The teachers accused are Nazneen Ferdous, acting principal, and Zinat Akhtar, morning shift in-charge of the school.
On Mar 28, this year, DB Inspector Kazi Kamrul Islam, the investigating officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet against Nazneen and Zinat to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka, showing 23 people as prosecution witnesses.
On Dec 3, 2018, Aritree was found hanging from the ceiling of her house in Shantinagar, Dhaka—hours after she and her parents were allegedly insulted by some teachers of the school.
The next day, her father Dilip Adhikari filed a case with the Paltan Police Station accusing three teachers of provoking Aritree’s suicide.
Following continuous protests by students, the Education Ministry and VNSC authorities formed two separate probe committees to investigate the incident.
The High Court later directed the education secretary to form another five-member committee, headed by an additional secretary of the ministry, to look into the matter.