Hill Voice, 24 August 2023, Rangamati: On Thursday 24 August 2023, students of Karalyachhari Rashid Sarkar High School of Longadu upazila under Rangamati district, students’ parents and people from all walks of life in Longadu organized a human chain to demand the permanent expulsion from the school and upholding life sentence of the rapist headmaster Abdur Rahim.
This human chain was held in the premises of Shaheed Minar of Longadu Sadar. About 1500 people from different areas of Longadu Upazila participated in the human chain which lasted for one and a half hours.
Present chairman of No. 7 Longadu Union Parishad Bikram Chakma (Boli), resident of Karalyachari village Eric Chakma, former student of Karalyachari Rashid Sarkar High School Kalyan Priya Chakma, ninth class student of the said school Litu Chakma spoke in the said human chain.
Speakers said that on September 25, 2020, Abdur Rahim, the headmaster of Karalyachhari Rashid Sarkar High School of Atarakchara Union of Longadu Upazila, forcibly raped a seventh grade girl student in the classroom. 5 days after the incident, the victim’s family filed a case on 5 October 2020. At one stage, the rapist Abdur Rahim was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Tk 1.0 million on November 29, 2022, as the incident of rape was proved. But on 1 June 2023, the High Court released the rapist Abdur Rahim on bail for three months on the condition of giving 1.0 acre of land to the rape victim.
The speakers also said that they are angry with this judgment of the High Court. This verdict has questioned the existing judicial system of the country. How can a rapist get bail from the High Court only on the condition of giving an acre of land to the victim? The victim’s family has waited so long hoping to get justice, believing in the law of the country. But this judgment of the High Court has disappointed the victim’s family as well as the people of this country. Speakers also complained that such incidents are happening again and again due to not getting proper justice for crimes like rape.
The speakers said that the rapist Abdur Rahim used to involve with Jamaat politics. After that, he started regular communication and quarrel with some leaders of the ruling party and started various irregularities and corruption in collation with Ziaur Rahman (Zia), the president of the managing committee of the school and the member of ward no. 4. No one dared to speak against them until now as because of his connection with the ruling party.
The speakers alleged that according to the employment rules, there is no opportunity for a person convicted in a criminal case to join or return to employment. But the rapist Abdur Rahim came to the school immediately after the bail. He is still in his post. He was not permanently removed from the post of headmaster of the school. The speakers immediately demanded that the rapist Abdur Rahim be permanently expelled from the post of school headmaster and the life sentence be upheld. The speakers warned that if the demands are not met, more strict programs will be given later.
