6th grader languishes in hospital after teacher beats him up

A sixth grader, mercilessly beaten up by his teacher, has been suffering on a hospital corridor while the accused roams free, reports UNB.

The boy, 12-year-old Pritom Mondol, is a student of Konaghatail High School in Dacope upazila.

Pritom was learned to have been hit with a duster and slapped indiscriminately by his teacher, Premangshu Goldar, for sitting on the front row on 14 April.

The boy fell unconscious during the assault and was taken to the Upazila Health Complex. He was later shifted to Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) after his condition deteriorated, said victim's father Khokon Mondol.

Pritom's father spent every bit of his savings to get his son treated but there has been no improvement. The boy is currently staying on the corridor of KMCH surgery unit.

"He suffered serious injuries in his head and he can't hear properly either," Khokon said.

He filed a case on 14 May against Premangshu after failing to get justice for his son from the headmaster and the school management committee.

Premangshu managed to get out on bail but he has been suspended, said Dacope police station's in-charge Mokabbar Hossain.

"I'm a poor farmer and have become destitute after bearing the treatment cost for the past one month," Pritom's father said.

"I can't provide him proper treatment. The accused teacher and school authorities are indifferent about my son. They haven't even visited him once," Khokon said.

District education officer Ruhul Amin said "stern action" had been taken against the accused school teacher but did not elaborate the measures.

Sohel Hossain, the education officer of the upazila, said he had visited the school and sought an official explanation from the teacher. "He has been suspended," Sohel said.

"The case is being heard by a subordinate court," he added.

Meanwhile, Pritom's father said he was arranging the cost of treatment with assistance from local representatives and wealthy people of the locality.

"I can't watch my son languish anymore," he said. "I want justice."