RU students demand punishment of teacher

Students of Rajshahi University staged a demonstration at Shabash Bangladesh memorial on campus yesterday, demanding punishment of a teacher who allegedly sexually harassed two female students of Institute of Education and Research (IER).

Some 50 students covered their faces with black cloth and demonstrated for half an hour, demanding that university authorities investigate the incident and take proper disciplinary steps to ensure justice.

Earlier, two IER students had filed separate complaints of sexual harassment against Assistant Prof Bishnu Kumar Adhikary.

After the demonstrations, third-year student Jannatul Ferdous Juthy said, “Our department has been taking too much time to investigate; we are not happy with it.”

Rezwan ul Alam Rizvi, a freshman, said, “To ensure security of female students, university authority should look into all cases of sexual harassment carefully.”

Prof Rubaiyat Jahan, member of the probe committee formed by the department, denied the allegation. “We have been looking into the incident. Hopefully we will reach a decision next week.”

Asked about the authority’s stand, student advisor Prof Laila Arjuman Banu said, “We do not have an active sexual harassment prevention cell at the moment, as the old committee expired. We are working on forming a new committee.”

IER authorities have already suspended the professor from performing academic activities.

On the other hand, the two students also filed separate general diaries with Motihar Police Station seeking security, claiming that they were being pressured to withdraw the complaints.

Bishnu Kumar has been denying the allegations and demanded a fair investigation to unveil the truth, according to a written statement issued on Saturday. He claimed that the allegations are conspiratory, fictional and baseless.