The High Court has ordered an investigation into the death of a Class 10 student from Ideal School and College’s Banasree Wing from bulimia and anorexia to see whether he was a victim of bullying or harassment by other students and teachers.
The court ordered Dhaka district education officials to submit an investigation report within the next 60 working days, reports bdnews24.com.
The decision came after the bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman held an initial hearing on a writ petition on Sunday and issued a rule on the matter.
The rule asked why the inaction and indifference of authorities who fail to take preventative measures to protect students from bullying in educational institutions should not be declared illegal. It also asked why educational institutions are not required to have an anti-bullying policy.
The education secretary, the law secretary, the secretary to the ministry of women and children’s affairs, district education officials, Upazila education officials and the principal of Ideal School and College have been given four weeks to respond to the rule.
On Jul 8, the Bangla edition of BBC News published a report stating the family of a student who died of anorexia and bulimia had faced harassment and bullying from students and teachers before his death.
On Aug 16, Supreme Court Advocate Tanvir Ahmed included the report in his petition to the High Court regarding bullying.
“The High Court had ordered the creation of a policy on bullying,” Ahmed said after the hearing. “A draft of this policy was made, but I do not know if it was ever finalised. But bullying is present in educational institutions and students are suffering. According to the media report, the student from Ideal School and College’s Banasree Wing was the victim of persistent harassment by students and teachers. His family made these allegations.”
The BBC report had been shared by several thousand people on Facebook at the time. Many of them shared their own experiences with body shaming and bullying.
The victim’s father, Md Fazlul Karim, told the BBC that his son was regularly harassed at school because of his weight.
On the night of Jun 25, the boy was admitted to Dhaka’s United Hospital for pneumonia and he died there the next day. In June and July 2020, the boy had weighed 93 kg. After that, he began to limit his food intake. By December, his weight had dropped to 60 kg. But the family had believed at the time that the weight loss was normal.
But, at the start of this January, some physical changes became apparent. His ankles were swollen, he had lost his usual vitality, and he was often ill.
In February, he was taken to a doctor. There the boy first reported that he was losing weight by following a popular diet programme on the internet. He was also undergoing mental changes at the time.
“He told the doctor that he would go to the bathroom and vomit whenever he ate a little too much,” Fazlul Karim said. “None of us noticed."
“He was afraid to eat. He was scared that if he gained weight again, everyone at school would get angry."
At the advice of the doctor, the boy began a special treatment regimen under the supervision of a medicine specialist, dietitian, psychologist and psychiatrist.
But, by then, his immunity was greatly diminished. His weight soon began dropping rapidly. In May, he was only 29 kg.
Doctors told the family he was suffering from anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a dietary disorder that also causes psychological problems in the patient, according to the NHS.
Those who suffer from the disease want to abstain from eating or eating much less than they need because they fear gaining weight. Many celebrities are known to suffer from this disease.
With regular treatment and the help of psychologists, the boy did manage to gain some weight, but his body was still weak and could not handle pneumonia he contracted in June.