Harassed Narayanganj schoolteacher shifted to Dhaka for treatment

Harassed and manhandled Narayanganj schoolteacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta has been shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment, but he is worried for the safety of his family back home.

Tapan Kanti Roybdnews24.com
Published : 20 May 2016, 09:36 PM
Updated : 20 May 2016, 09:36 PM

He was shifted to the Dhaka hospital on Friday afternoon.

While security personnel deployed to guard Bhakta refused to allow journalists to sneak close to him, bdnews24.com managed to catch up with him for a few quick round of chats while he was being taken for various examinations.

Speaking to bdnews24.com the assaulted teacher said that he had been subjected to “internal beating” that left him badly in pain without bleeding from wounds.

He claimed a posse of 20-30 attackers mounted a severe assault on him, trampling on his chest, hitting his knee and the left side of his temple with bricks.

He said he was in pain.

But more than his own pain, Bhakta seemed to be anxious about the safety and security of his family members back home.

He said he had left behind a daughter at home after locking the door from outside.

Bhakta was attacked at his Narayanganj school by a mob that claimed that the teacher had committed blasphemy against Islam. They also made him do sit-ups holding ears to shame him, an act that later triggered countrywide protests at the vigilante justice.

At about the same time that Bhakta was speaking to bdnews24.com, an outfit called Hefazat-e-Islam demanded his punishment at a public meeting at Narayanganj.

However, the incident has also triggered a countrywide demand for the punishment of Narayanganj MP Salim Osman who was reported to have abetted the attackers.

Bhakta was undergoing treatment since the day of the attack at Narayanganj Sadar Hospital. On Friday, police shifted him to Dhaka.

Bhakta’s wife Sabita Rani said, “We don’t know anything about that day’s incident. All we know is that he had been detained. He was beaten too, we have heard.”

She said that the school committee had forcibly wanted him to relinquish the headmaster’s post but he had refused to budge.

“Mainly all this was done to promote Assistant Headmaster Mobarok to the principal’s post. In the past, too, he had issues with Mobarok”, she said.

Medicine Ward doctor on duty Sumon Pramanik said that Bhakta had undergone a slew of tests like X-rays and a CT scan.

“The test reports have not yet arrived, only after examining the reports can we say something”, he said.

However, doctors suspect some problem in his chest.

When Bhakta was approached with more questions, Shahbagh police SI Mizanur intervened.

“You cannot talk to Sir”, he said.