Aritry’s death: Viqarunnisa students threaten to boycott class in support of teacher Hasna Hena

A group of students from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College have announced they will boycott class to call for the release of detained teacher Hasna Hena, who was sent to jail over instigating the suicide of student Aritry Adhikary.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 8 Dec 2018, 07:35 AM
Updated : 8 Dec 2018, 07:55 AM

The students began a demonstration in front of the school gates at Dhaka’s Bailey Road around 11am on Friday.

Class 11 captain and protester Anika Ishraf Ikra told the media that the protesters would boycott class on Sunday if Hasna Hena was not released.

Meanwhile, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College has resumed classes. Most classes are sitting for their annual examinations.

Hasna Hena had been arrested after Aritry’s father filed a case over her suicide amid student protests condemning her death. Hena, Aritry’s class teacher, is currently in prison.

Students calling for justice for the ‘humiliation’ of Aritry and her parents boycotted class for several days before calling off their protest on Thursday after assurances for teachers.

Now another group of students are protesting for the release of Hasna Hena. They held demonstrations on Friday and continued their protest on Saturday.

The students say they want justice for Aritry’s death, but say that Hasna Hena was not responsible for it.

Hena had been in charge of class nine at the school. She was fired from her post by the school’s governing body at the instruction of the Ministry of Education. She also had her MPO scrapped.

Viqarunnisa Principal Nazneen Ferdous and Morning Shift In-Charge Zinnat Akhtar were also fired. They were also named in the case filed by Aritry’s father.

Unrest enveloped the school on Dhaka’s Bailey Road after Aritry committed suicide on Monday.

It was alleged that teachers had ‘humiliated’ Aritry’s parents when they called them in after finding Aritry in possession of a mobile phone during an exam and that this was the cause of her suicide.

The school authority says that Aritry had been caught cheating on an exam on Sunday.