Dhaka, Oct. 24 -- Authorities at the madrasah in Tongi where a teacher has been arrested for allegedly inflicting a 'bad touch' on one of his female students of Grade 1, have continued to insist that the teacher in question only promised to kiss his students as a reward for doing well in their exams, and never actually followed through on it.

This line has also been picked up by the society of alem-ulema at large, many of whom have spoken out against the student's father for confronting the teacher and subjecting him to a public thrashing before he was arrested at the madrasah premises.

At the same time, many members of the same community have maintained that even if the teacher, Muslemuddin Ahmed, did kiss the 7-year-old-girl, he was w...