A teacher has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 10-year-old madrasa pupil in Narail, Bangladesh. The court also fined him Tk300,000 and ordered that the money, once recovered, be handed over to the child’s family.
The verdict was delivered on Monday afternoon by Sheikh Shamidul Islam, judge of the Narail Children’s Repression Prevention Tribunal. The prosecution confirmed the ruling through state counsel Ajibur Rahman Aziz.
The convicted teacher, identified as Meraj Ali, is the son of Aman Ullah Haque of Rudrapur Kalia Bakir village in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga.
According to details presented in the case, the child was a student at Rahmania Taichirul Ulum Madrasa in the Raghunathpur area of Narail municipality. On the night of 10 July 2025, Meraj allegedly called the child into his room and sexually assaulted him.
The child was subsequently threatened and warned not to disclose the incident to anyone. The case proceedings stated that the alleged abuse was not an isolated incident. When the child eventually told his parents what had happened, he reportedly said that the teacher had sexually assaulted him several times over a period of about two months.
The allegations became known to members of the local community, after which Meraj fled. Local people later detained him on 12 July.
The child’s mother subsequently filed a case with Narail Sadar Police Station. The matter was then taken through the judicial process, culminating in Monday’s verdict.
State counsel Ajibur Rahman Aziz said the tribunal imposed life imprisonment on the accused along with the Tk300,000 fine. The court directed that the fine should be recovered and paid to the victim’s family.
The case highlights the legal consequences facing those convicted of sexual offences against children. Such cases also place particular emphasis on the need to protect children within educational institutions, where pupils may be dependent on teachers and other adults for care, supervision and guidance.
Child sexual abuse can have lasting consequences for victims and their families. For that reason, allegations involving children are generally dealt with through specialised legal procedures designed to address offences against minors while safeguarding the interests of the victim during the judicial process.
The Narail tribunal’s order means that, alongside the custodial sentence, the victim’s family is entitled to receive the financial penalty if it is successfully collected. The ruling therefore addresses both the criminal liability of the convicted teacher and financial support for the affected family.
