Journalist accused of sexually harassing woman on Facebook

A woman has brought allegations of sexual harassment on Facebook against a journalist. The complainant had applied for the position of a reporter for the daily Prokritirsangbad recently. Earlier this week, Shahin Rahman, chief reporter for the newspaper, asked her to go on a “long drive” and asked her if she “liked sex” on Messenger. The screenshots of their conversations was posted on Facebook on Wednesday. The complainant wrote: “I went for an interview as a reporter for a newspaper. I was asked to join after the result. As I was out of Dhaka I told them to inform about joining [there] later. “But the night before, chief reporter Shahin messaged me, asking very inappropriate things. I was stunned by shame and hatred. I did not dare to file a case as he is a senior journalist.” She also said that she shared the matter with a number of female journalists and they gave her the courage to speak up. “After discussing with several senior female journalists, I learned that this man had approached many others with bad intentions,” she wrote. Shahin’s Facebook account, which the complainant had linked to in her post, was found deactivated since Wednesday evening. When contacted, the Prokritirsangbad Deputy Editor Gazi Zahir said no job interview was held. He said: “The girl lied. No recruitment process has begun yet. We have not interviewed anyone. Recruitment will start in June.” The complainant rejected the claim and said Shahin was accompanied by two others during the interview. She also claimed after posting the status on Facebook, Shahin tried to negotiate for her discretion. “He tried to settle the matter and apologized to me. But I want to act, so that nobody else has to face this type of situation.” Shahin Rahman could not be reached over the phone for commentsThis article was first published on banglatribune.com