October 2, 2024
DHAKA – A buddhist temple, several houses and shops were looted and set on fire in Khagrachhari yesterday after a schoolteacher was beaten to death for allegedly raping an 8th grader of the Tripura community.
The attacks on properties and some locals happened even after the authorities around 3:00pm imposed Section 144, which prohibits gathering of four or more people, officials said.
Soon after Abul Hasnat Muhammad Sohail Rana, 48, a teacher of Khagrachhari Technical School and College, died around noon, a standoff began between groups of Bangalee and indigenous people.
The girl Rana had allegedly raped was admitted to a hospital with injuries that indicate that she might have been raped, said a doctor. Rana was previously accused of attempted rape and molesting students on at least two occasions, according to media reports and locals.
In the afternoon, groups armed with sticks and sharp weapons chased each other, said Sujan Chandra Roy, upazila nirbahi officer of Khagrachhari.
As the sun set, Bangalee people set fire to several houses and a temple of Chakma and Marma people at Mahajanpara and Pankhaiyapara. As most residents of the villages fled beforehand, they assaulted several passers-by, locals said.
As of filing this report around 10:00pm, the town was tense and police using loudspeakers were asking people to stay calm. Police, border guards and army personnel patrolled different neighbourhoods.
Abdul Baten Mridha, officer-in-charge of Khagrachhari Police Station, said “I was also beaten while trying to calm the situation.”
The incidents happened less than two weeks after a Bangalee man, who was injured after crashing a motorcycle he had allegedly stolen, was beaten to death by locals. Racial violence flared up in the district at the time and it spilled over to Rangamati. The violence left at least four people, including a 17-year-old, from the indigenous communities dead.
Yesterday morning, as the news of the alleged rape spread, the students started protesting. The students, who are from the indigenous communities, confined Rana to the office of the principal, but 10-15 students entered the room and started hitting him, police said.
Later, police rescued him and took him to Khagrachhari Sadar Hospital.
Ripple Bappi Chakma, resident medical officer, said Rana was dead on arrival around 2:10pm.
The hospital was yet to make a list of the injured people, he added.
Officials said Rana previously went to jail on charges of trying to rape a 10th grader student of his. A case was filed against him regarding this on February 25, 2021.
After he was released on bail and returned to work, students marched on September 5 with a banner that read, “Fire rapist teacher Sohel Rana.”
Prior to that, Rana was a teacher of Hosenabad Govt Technical School and College in Doulatpur, Kushita. He was transferred from that school after an investigation found that he molested a student, according to media reports.
Yesterday morning, when Rana was kept confined to a room, UNO Sujan, an additional superintendent of police and officer-in-charge of the police station tried to bring the situation under control, but to no avail, said Sujan.
Sujan said he and a few police officials suffered injuries.
Ukanyu Marma, a witness, said some students saw Rana taking a girl to a room around 9:00am.
“When they [the students] informed us, we went to the college and rescued her from the teacher’s room,” he said.
“The girl said the teacher had raped her,” he said, adding that people were outraged after hearing that.