'Hellish' Bangladeshi teacher 'burns legs' of madrassa girls over failure to 'offer prayers'

Dhaka, May 4 (ANI): Bangladesh Police is looking for a Muslim teacher who allegedly placed burning hot iron rods on the legs of her students for failing to offer daily prayers.

According to reports, 14 girls, aged between eight and 12, have suffered burn injuries.

All the injuries are not thought to be serious; the school has been temporarily shut down following the incident.

"I was shocked to see the burn injury of my daughter," Jumur Akhter, the mother of one of the affected students, told the BBC.

"It was the first day of the madrassa after our holidays. Our teacher got angry when she heard that we were not offering regular prayers during our vacation. Then she asked her servant to heat up the rod and then she pressed it on our legs. The pain was unbearable," Ferdousi Akther, another victim aged 8, was quoted, as saying.

Pupils say that the teacher asked the students whether they knew the severity of the fire in hell, and were allegedly told that if they did not offer prayers regularly, they would experience a similar punishment.he incident has left the local residents shocked and the madrassa has been temporarily closed in the aftermath of the burnings.

"This is... human rights violence on children. The government has been trying to stop this kind of violence against children, especially in educational institutions. But the implementation is weak," Rasheda K Chowdhury of the Campaign for Popular Education said.olice are currently investigating the incident and are in search of the ruthless teacher. (ANI)