Dhaka University teacher accused of verbally abusing female students

A teacher of Persian Language and Literature Department of Dhaka University (DU) has been accused of verbally abusing some of his female students during class hours. The accused teacher is Dr Abu Musa Md Arif Billah, the only associate professor of the department, who had earlier been sent on a forced leave for six years in 2009 after sexual harassment charges were brought against him. On Tuesday, a female third year honours student on behalf of some other female classmates filed the complaint, confirmed the department's chairman Prof Dr Muhammad Abdus Sabur Khan. The written complaint was filed to the department chairman via the department's Student Advisor Assistant Professor Md Ahsanul Hadi. The complainant said Dr Billah made indecent comments targeting some female students during a class as they were dressed in western attire. Taking the allegation into cognizance, the department authorities later called an urgent meeting at 12:30pm on Thursday to verify the authenticity of the incident. “After the meeting a decision will be taken in this regard,” Dr Khan said, refusing to remark any further. The Dhaka Tribune tried to contact the complainant over the phone, but she did not respond. Meanwhile, Dr Billah defended himself saying: “The allegation against me is false and fabricated. It is yet another plot to frame me like earlier.” He claimed to not have been informed about the meeting officially. “The previous allegation of sexual harassment against me was nothing but a conspiracy. The female student, who had accused me then, confessed to the then vice-chancellor that she was forced to accuse me,” he further said. Dr Billah reportedly rejoined the department in January, 2015.