HC issues rule to stop bullying at educational institutions
The court directed there be an investigation of the death of 10-year-old Azwad Ahnaf Karim who died as a victim of body shaming
The High Court (HC) issued a rule on Sunday, asking for an explanation as to why the inaction of the authorities in stopping bullying at educational institutions should not be declared illegal.
The court also wanted to know why a policy should not be formed to prevent such bullying.
The court directed there be an investigation of the death of 16-year-old Azwad Ahnaf Karim, a student of class 10 at Ideal School and College (Banasree branch), who died as a victim of body shaming by his classmates and teachers.
The Education Officer of the Dhaka district has been asked to submit a report upon investigation within the next 60 days.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman has issued the order.
Earlier on 8 July, BBC Bengali published a report, "What the family of the adolescent victim of body shaming by classmates and teachers says?"
According to the news article, the victim's family alleged that Azwad died because of the anorexia and Bulimia he suffered from.
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A post on Facebook about this has been shared by thousands of people, almost all of whom have shared their experiences and protested against action and behaviour, like body shaming and bullying.
The teenager's father Fazlul Karim said that because his son was overweight, he was routinely bullied and ridiculed at school. But they never complained about this to the school and do not want to make any official complaint about the matter yet. However, the family wants the government to take action to stop bullying in schools.
Attaching the BBC report, a legal notice was sent to the concerned defendants. However, there was no response to the notice and hence HC lawyer Tanvir Ahmed filed the writ.
