Expulsion of five JU BCL men withdrawn

Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday reinstated five Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists who were expelled on May 23, 2015 for sexually harassing a female ethnic minority student on Pahela Baishakh.

The syndicate's expulsion order was withdrawn following a High Court directive of March 20 declaring it illegal, reads an office order signed by Deputy Registrar (education) Muhammad Ali.

The five had also assaulted the student's male friend and snatched their belongings near Munni Sarani on the campus on April 14, 2015, found JU's Anti-Sexual Harassment Cell.

Headed by Prof Rasheda Akter, the cell recommended the expulsion after conducting a probe following a complaint of the victim.

On April 16, 2015, BCL's JU unit suspended the five over the same allegation.

The five are residents of Shaheed Salam Barkat Hall -- Nishat Imtiaz Bijoy of journalism and media studies (third year), Nafis Imtiaz of chemistry (third year), Abdur Rahman Ifti and Nurul Kabir of anthropology (second year), and Rakib Hassan of geography and environment (second year).

The five had then filed a writ petition.