A furious dad said it is a “miracle” his three-year-old daughter wasn’t hurt after she was allowed to walk home from school on her own – crossing several main roads on her way.
Akbar Ali, 28, said he feared his daughter Tanjida Amreen could have been kidnapped or killed as she made her way home unsupervised last Thursday (Jan 12).
He said he was running late to pick his daughter up and was just about to leave the house when he heard a knock at the door.
To his shock and horror he opened the door to find Tanjida there unaccompanied.
Supermarket worker Akbar said: “I’d got delayed with looking after my newly born daughter and didn’t realise exactly what time it was,” he said.
“I had just given my baby daughter to my mum and was about to leave the house when our doorbell rang. This was between 3pm and 3.05pm.
“At first I thought my brother must have come home with Tanjida, but when I opened the door there she was by herself. She’d come home alone.
“She was all happy and smiling, but I just couldn’t believe it. I was completely shocked and upset.
“What if she had been kidnapped or killed? My children are precious to me and I am very protective of them.
“It’s a miracle she wasn’t hurt. There are main roads to cross and people who drive around here like crazy.
Tanjida isn’t old enough to know how to cross roads safely.”
Akbar, who is also dad to three-week-old Ameera, said he went to Holycroft Primary School, in Keighley, West Yorks., to demand answers to what had happened.
While the school apologised to Akbar he said they were unable to tell him how Tanjida was allowed to leave the site undetected.
He said: “The school don’t have a clue.
“They said they didn’t know she had gone outside.
“Their excuse is that the teachers must have been speaking to another parent and she must have sneaked past, but I think that’s a lie.
“She was wearing her hat and scarf and they had given her milk and a pear. I don’t see how then she could have just sneaked out without them realising.
“The school also made the excuse that their CCTV camera isn’t working so they can’t look at that to see how she got out.
“The weird thing is no other parents said they saw her or stopped her. How can this be possible?
“I’m not sure what to do now. I might apply to send her to another school.
“It is ridiculous what happened and I don’t want this happening to any other child or parent.
Akbar, who is married to Forida Begum, 25, said he has been suffering from nightmares since the incident.
He said: “I can’t sleep at night anymore.
“I’m dreaming that she has been tortured or kidnapped. I’m dreaming that someone has got her and won’t give her back.
“I’m waking up in sweats. It’s horrible.”
Holycroft Primary headteacher Geoff Morrison said “We have apologised to the family and are carrying out a thorough investigation.
“I would like to reassure parents that the safety of children is our top priority.
“We have now strengthened our procedures at the end of the school day to ensure that this cannot happen again.”