A video went viral on the internet of a 11 year old carrying a child in her womb seen under ultrasound. She is a madrasah student and supposedly raped by a ‘Hujur’ in the same institution as the doctor reports. It arrived as a shock and it will remain in public attention for a few days and eventually would fade into silence. But under this banner of religious consciousness and spiritual authority, perpetrators are creating a sense of illusion, a dangerous one that we are neglecting as a society, passing it down to zero accountability.
Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) has documented 70 rapes against girls, 32 of the victims aged 7 to 12 and 7 rapes against boys of same age group from January till March 2026. A fraction of these incidents were reported. There is no specific dataset on Madrasah abuse but as we scroll through the newspaper, we realize how alarming the situation is.
Madrasas have historically played a vital role in providing education, moral grounding, and social mobility for crores of students in Bangladesh. We manifest worthy leaders, scholars and an amazing talent pool representing our country worldwide. However, no institution, religious or secular, is immune to abuse. Madrasahs are accommodating more students from the low-income or lower-middle-income homes as they serve free or low-cost education with residential facilities, care for orphans, particularly in rural areas. For many families, enrolling a child in a madrasa is more than an economic decision, a moral one, a cultural belief of gains in afterlife. Within this context, the teachers of madrasahs portray a superior position in society. So sacred, obeying them is supposed to be an internalized virtue. In such a setting, questioning or reporting an abuse that is too sexual, remains a major issue and decisions can be manipulated to silence. Their wrongdoings might not be questioned – but we do expect a collective answer.
If the survivor were a university student, the response would likely be very different. They would have comparatively greater agency to speak out, mobilize peers, they could seek legal recourse, and attract media attention that can pressure institutions into accountability. In contrast, children in madrasas are minors, many living away from their families, with limited access to support systems or knowledge of their rights or even consciousness on their body. All dilemmas intertwine with the perpetrator’s social position and enforce us to see only the tip of the iceberg.
We need to address what lies beneath. Awareness and safe channels for reporting must work hand in hand. There is no performing formal guidelines for madrasas to address their homogenous needs to cope sexual abuse and harassment. A High Court order was issued in 2009 and the madrasa board had ordered all institutions to form five-member anti-sexual harassment committees. It was rather left without any proper follow-up. Later in 2019 after the tragic death of Nusrat Jahan Rafi in Feni, who was set on fire after being harassed on April 6th by her principal, the Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board (BMEB) had issued a set of guidelines to all madrasas across Bangladesh. Among the 12-point instructions to authorities, eight-point directives was for female students, two-point directives to managing committees, and one point for guardians. The highlight of the guideline is that a male teacher, under any
circumstance, cannot call a female student alone to the room. It has been mentioned everywhere that it will protect ‘female’ students. Same goes for the recently drafted “Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace and Educational Institutions Ordinance, 2026,” approved by the Interim Government. Everyone is seemingly trying to save the girl child, which is a good sign but why the boy child is getting sidelined from policies, a gendered dimension persists. A large number of boys get beaten, tortured, sexually harassed or even raped in our madrasas never coming to light. There are serious concerns of safety and without proper accountability and awareness this issue will remain a mere news peg.
Religious spaces are not inherently safe simply because they are religious. At the same time, it is crucial to separate religion from its misuse. All ethical systems strongly condemn oppression and injustice. The abuse of children is a grave violation of both moral and religious principles. For the broader cultural change both awareness and safe channels for reporting must work hand in hand. There should be external oversight and monitoring. Nevertheless, the policies should cover vulnerability of all regardless of age, ethnicity and gender according to the institution’s needs. Voices should be raised now or else we are in grave crisis.
Sabilla Suhael is a student of Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of Dhaka
