sexual harassment
DU teacher terminated
The Dhaka University (DU) authorities yesterday terminated Professor Saiful Islam of Theatre and Performance Studies Department for sexually harassing a female student of the department.
The decision was taken at a syndicate meeting and DU Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique confirmed it.
The teacher has been dismissed for the sexual harassment of a female student of the same department, he said.
The action follows report by the probe committee, sources in the syndicate said.
On Sept 15 last year, the student brought an allegation of sexual harassment against Prof Saiful who was serving as the chairman of the department at that time.
The university syndicate suspended the teacher over the allegation and formed a probe committee. Besides, the syndicate had given the professor 10 days to explain why he should not be terminated.
Prof Saiful tendered his resignation the same day after some students of the department demonstrated against him and kept him confined in his office.
The victim alleged that when she went to meet Prof Saiful at his house on the campus, he tried to take advantage of her in return of ignoring some problems in the answer scrip and giving her marks. The student managed to record her conversation with the teacher on her phone and fled the scene later.
