When the protectors turn perpetrators

I've recently noticed a report published by The Daily Star detailing how an 8-year old student was brutally tortured by her teachers. Police arrested the teachers who whipped the girl 160 times and inserted needles under her nails for allegedly stealing Tk 100.

The brutality of the incident left me speechless. Physical and mental punishment in educational institutions has been prohibited by the High Court, but that didn't stop those so-called teachers from inflicting such pain on a kid. Those perpetrators must be punished in accordance with the law.

Teachers have always been respected in our society. Under no circumstances should they do anything that can have negative impacts on the psyche of their students. I would like to urge our teachers, especially those in the primary schools and madrasahs, to refrain from resorting to any kind of punitive methods to “teach” students. Kids can be made to do anything if they are treated with love and kindness.