The High Court on Wednesday refused to hear an anticipatory bail petition by Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, a donor member of the board of governors of Dhaka’s famed Ideal School and College, in a case filed over luring away and marrying a student of the institution against her family's wishes.
The charges in the case filed by the family involve allurement and rape.
An HC bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman sent back the bail petition filed by the accused in person with the court. The court in fact also rebuked the petitioner, saying he wasn’t in the right morally.
Also read: ‘Aiding, abetting rape’: Ideal School and College principal granted anticipatory bail
On the other hand, Justice M Enayetur Rahim of the Appellate Division on Wednesday upheld the HC order that granted a six-week anticipatory bail to College Principal Fouzia Rashidee Rumna, who is accused of having aided and abetted Mushtaq’s advances towards the girl, a student of Class-11 of Ideal College, Motijheel, in a sordid story that has rocked not just everyone associated with the school, but even the wider education sector in the last few months.
The girl’s father, one Md Saiful Islam, on August 1 lodged the complaint with the Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-8 against the donor member and the principal.
Taking the allegations into cognizance, Judge Begum Mafroza Parveen ordered Gulshan Police Station’s Officer-in-charge to record the complaint as a case.
According to the complaint, Mushtaq, a sexagenarian, used to come to the college on various pretexts through his involvement in the governing board and some time in 2022, started calling the victim from her class to the principal's room. The start of his inappropriate advances on the victim involved giving her expensive gifts like an iPhone.
Failing to woo her at first, Mushtaq threatened to pick her up and forcibly marry her, and also threatened her family. A particularly damning portion of the complaint states:
"Later, the victim requested the college principal to take action on such behaviour. The principal, instead of taking action, brought Mushtaq to her room and called the victim from her class and closed the door of the room and asked the victim to give time and company to the accused."
Although the plaintiff went to seek her intervention to end the matter, the principal refused to cooperate, according to the case statement.
At one stage, the plaintiff was forced to take his daughter to their Thakurgaon home to be away from the whole thing, but on June 12, Mushtaq is accused of abducting the victim with his men.
On social media, Mushtaq has insisted the girl engaged with him of her own accord. But irrespective of that, pursuing such a relationship on the part of a donor member of the governing board was bound to stretch ethical standards.
Earlier this year, Mushtaq is said to have sponsored the school’s day trip to his garden state in Narshingdi as part of plans to woo her. They are understood to have been married - with the girl under duress, according to the father’s case- shortly afterwards.