Three teenage girls tried to commit suicide by jumping from the third floor of Sheikh Rasel Children鈥檚 Training and Rehabilitation Centre in Sylhet on Tuesday night to get relief from the alleged torture by the officials.
The three girls broke open a ventilator at the third floor of the four-storey building at Lamapara under Shibganj area in the city at around 10:00pm on Tuesday and tried to commit suicide by jumping from the building, local residents said.
Being noticed, the locals gathered on the centre premises and tried to convince the girls for not to commit suicide. By this time, several people broke the grill of a window and rescued the girls from the cornice of the building, the locals said.
The girls implored the locals and journalists present at that moment to protect them from the torture done by the staff of the rehabilitation centre run by the Directorate of Social Welfare.
'Take us away, we are not well here. Send us to another rehabilitation centre. Sharifa, Kanika and Rabeya madams will torture us again after your departure from here,鈥� one of them cried out.
鈥榃e didn't try to commit suicide without any reason. We are subjected to inhuman torture. It is better for us to die,鈥� another girls said, adding that the staff harassed them physically and mentally.
The girls said that they were taken to the rehabilitation centre by the police administration. Torture is carried out on them as they have no guardian, they said.
鈥楾hose, who were taken to the rehabilitation centre by their relatives or different people, are appreciated here. Because, that relatives or persons send money to the institution,鈥� one of the girls said.
Responding to journalists, Sheikh Rasel Child Training and Rehabilitation Centre director Vasudev Debnath rejected the allegation of torturing the inmates at the institution.
鈥業n fact, they are not really matured, so they acted in this way for losing common sense,鈥� he commented.
