‘Possessed’ BD teacher arrested over child rapes

DHAKA: Bangladeshi police have arrested a religious school´s principal for allegedly raping at least a dozen children under his care, an official said Friday, sparking demonstrations by hundreds of people.

Al Amin, the head teacher and founder of the Baitul Huda Cadet Madrassa at Fatulla outside Dhaka, claimed innocence, saying he was “possessed by Satan”. Madrassas are religious institutions that provide everything from basic Koran-based education to graduate-level religious studies.

Elite police from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested the teacher on Thursday after the mother of a 10-year-old student filed a rape complaint against him. Local RAB chief Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Samser Uddin said the young girl watched a TV news report on serious sexual assault and told her mother that the seminary founder “did the same to her”. “The mother immediately rushed to us with the complaint. Then we arrested the principal,” Uddin told AFP.