A vice-principal was suspended and two school employees sacked at a school in the capital, in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment against two grade-schoolers.
A Class I student was allegedly sexually assaulted on May 5 and a Class V student was sexually assaulted last year. The Class V student’s ordeal surfaced after the fresh incident on May 5.
Mohammadpur Preparatory Higher Secondary Girls’ School Vice-Principal Zinnatunnessa was relieved of her duties yesterday, following a decision by the school’s Board of Trustees, board member M Tamim said.
“Two school staff, Gopal and Shariful, believed to be responsible for the incidents, were fired the same day,” he said.
The board member said there would no longer be any male staff at the school, and that CCTV cameras would be installed on the campus.
In light of protests against the sexual harassment of the girls, the school was closed until May 25.
Principal Belayet Hossain told journalists the school would remain closed for Shab-e-Meraj and the summer holidays.
The principal claimed to have been assaulted after the board meeting but declined to make further comments about the incident.
There are reports that two of the school’s female students were also manhandled by angry parents when exchanges over the situation at the school became heated.
School teachers said they would form a human chain in front of the institution around 10am today to protest the assault on the principal and the students after the board meeting.
They said guardians, upset about the sexual assault of some female students, were wrong to attack other female students and the school’s principal.
Teachers refuted claims reportedly made by some guardians that one student had died and another was in the hospital, saying they had seen no evidence supporting such claims and neither had the police.
Mohammadpur police confirmed that they had received no information of a death in this regard.
Belayet said he would not comment further before the school’s board submits a report to the High Court later today.
A newly-appointed teacher, asking not to be identified, said the parents of a Class I student complained to the vice-principal on May 9 about the case of sexual harassment which allegedly took place on May 5.
The parents could not complain earlier because the school was closed and being used as an HSC exam venue, the teacher said.
He said the vice-principal formed a probe committee over the allegation the same day he received the complaint. The father of the victim was made a member of the committee, he added.
However, the teacher could not confirm whether the committee had submitted a report.
Another teacher, also asking not to be identified, said the committee was headed by Associate Professor Mostafizur Rahman. The teacher claimed not to know the victims’ names.
When asked how he could not know the identity of at least one of the victims – since the victim’s father was on the probe committee – he then denied knowing the identity of the other victim.
A female teacher of the school claimed this was not the first incident of sexual harassment on the campus. She claimed to have heard such complaints from parents before.
The teacher confirmed that she had heard that a Class I student had been held across the mouth and touched inappropriately by “a dark-skinned youth.”
She said she had heard such allegations made about Gopal, an employee of the school, before.
She said parents sometimes asked teachers to accompany the girls to the toilet to ensure their safety.
The teacher said several allegations had been made against Gopal, a sweeper at the school, who was sacked yesterday by the board of trustees.
She claimed many teachers of this branch of the school had been suspended over similar allegations.
A college student of the institution, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his female friend had also been a victim of sexual assault and the chemistry teacher accused of the act was ultimately suspended.
Hundreds of students and guardians took to the streets yesterday morning to protest.
They demanded the dismissal of Zinnatunnessa, who is said to have made inappropriate remarks over the incident, and the two male employees accused of assaulting the school girls.
A writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking a report on steps taken by the authorities concerned and the school management over identifying the accused of the attempted rape of a minor.
Supreme Court lawyer Moniruzzaman filed the petition on Thursday on behalf of a guardian.
The hearing may take place today.
