A madrasa teacher and an imam of a mosque have been beaten up allegedly for preventing a child marriage at Hatiya Upazila in Noakhali. Of them, one is a teacher of Darul Arqam Ebtedayee Madrasa, and another is imam of a mosque in the Upazila’s Purbo Rasulpur area.
Madrasa teacher said he heard the family members of one of his 13-year-old students arranged a programme at their home to marry off their daughter, as per local media reports. Afterwards, he called the national helpline (999). Following the instructions of the national helpline, he contacted the local Upazila Nirbahi Officer and stopped the marriage with his help.
A few hours later, some people attacked him when he was going to a market along with imam and some other locals. At one point, the criminals abducted the duo and took them to the student’s home. They tied them to trees and allegedly beat them up. The criminals also snatched their mobile phones, cash and some documents. Some locals later rescued the victims.
After the incident, the victims filed a complaint with Hatiya Police Station accusing four people. Officer-in-Charge of the local police station said they would take legal actions against the culprits after investigation.
It is unacceptable that in this day and age parents of young daughters would force them to get married to men who could be substantially much older than them. Young children, especially daughters, have the rights to enjoy their adolescent period. Marrying off them at such tender ages increases the risk of their contracting various diseases which may occur due to their being forced to bear children at an early age. So it’s imperative that such actions don’t occur as they may irreparably harm the child and reduce or eliminate fertility.
But certain overzealous parents seem not to understand this and give away their children as if they were slaves or chattel without any rights. The best natural protectors of children turn out to be the worst offenders. In this case they went overboard and did not hesitate to even steal from someone who was trying to help their child. Such social delinquents must be brought to task before the law.
