Protests erupt after Bangladesh girl burned to death on teacher’s order
dhaka — A schoolgirl was burned to death in Bangladesh on the orders of her head teacher after she reported him for sexually harassing her, police said on Friday.
The death of 19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi last week sparked protests across the country. Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the seminary she attended where her attackers asked her to withdraw the sexual harassment complaint she had filed with police.
When she refused, she was doused in kerosene and set on fire. Police said on Friday that one of the 17 people arrested in connection with her death had accused the school’s principal of ordering the attack.
The teacher “told them to put pressure on Rafi to withdraw the case or kill her if she refused”, police officer Mohammed Iqbal said.
Rafi had gone to police in March to report the sexual harassment, and a leaked video shows the local police station chief registering her complaint but dismissing it as “not a big deal”.
Iqbal said at least five of those under arrest, including three of Rafi’s classmates, had tied her up with a scarf before setting her on fire.
“The plan was to pass the incident off as a suicide. But it fell through after Rafi managed to come downstairs while on fire because the scarf burnt and freed her hands and feet,” he said.
Rafi suffered burns to 80 per cent of her body and died in hospital on April 10. But she recorded a video before her death, repeating her allegations against the principal.
“The teacher touched me, I will fight this crime till my last breath,” she said. She also identified some of her attackers.