Sexual harassment: JnU student files complaint against teacher, dept head

A female student of Jagannath University has alleged that she has been threatened with death and expulsion from the university after accusing a teacher of sexual harassment.

The student filed a complaint today against a teacher and the department chairman with the detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police today, seeking safety for her life.

The student alleged that she was sexually harassed by a teacher in her department in 2021. When she complained about it to the then vice-chancellor of the university, the chairman of the department and the accused teacher pressured her in various ways to withdraw it. As she did not agree, they allegedly gave death threats and threatened to expel her from the university.

She alleged that the accused once gave her a "zero" on an exam and played a role in her failure in the graduation viva-voce exam.

She said the death of Fairuz Sadaf Abontika, a student of the same university, gave her the impetus to file the complaint.

Claiming the past trauma prevented her from leading normal life, the student said, "I don't know when I will be killed. Not only me, but they are also threatening and harassing my family in various ways. I have filed the complaint to save myself."

Acknowledging about the complaint, DMP Additional Commissioner of Police (DB) Harun-Or-Rashid said the cyber team of DB will look into the matter.