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Bangladeshi girl was burned to death by schoolmates for complaining against a principal who sexually harassed her.
A Bangladeshi teenager Nusrat Jahan Rafi was burned to death at her school after filing a sexual harassment complaint.
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Nusrat, 19, from Feni, a small town in the south of the country, was allegedly sexually harassed by her principal. He called her in his office and repeatedly touched her forcing her to run out of the office.
The teenager went to her local police station to file a complaint where the officer in charge filmed her on his phone while she was giving her statement.
When Nusrat tried to hide her face, the officer could be heard saying, “no big deal” and asked her to take her hands away. Later the video was leaked on social media.
On April 6, Nusrat went to school 11 days after the alleged assault to take her final exams when a fellow female student took her to the roof. Four or five other students surrounded her on the roof and pressured her to withdraw the case.
When she refused, they set Nusrat on fire according to a statement given by the victim later.
80 percent of her body was burned and she had to be transferred to Dhaka Medical Hospital in the capital city where Nusrat succumbed to her injuries on April 10.
“The teacher touched me, I will fight this crime till my last breath,” said Nusrat's resolution as recorded by her brother.
The principal is now in custod, but the police officer who filmed her was transferred to another department.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised justice to Nusrat’s family.
Her death also triggered nationwide protests which also highlighted the problematic treatment of sexual assault victims in the country.
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