The North South University (NSU) authorities have started investigating the sexual harassment charges against a part-time faculty of the university, after relieving him of all academic activities.
The teacher in question was punished on April 11 immediately after some students complained to the authorities verbally.
Atiqur Rahman is also a full-time assistant professor at the Department of Statistics of Jahangirnagar University (JU). He had been a “popular” teacher as per the internal evaluation of the NSU for the last three years.
Asked why a teacher was dismissed in an incident that happened outside the campus without any specific allegations or investigation, Vice Chancellor Prof Atiqul Islam said that it was impossible to send the teacher to class as the students were agitated.
“Therefore, he was hastily relieved from all kinds of academic activities. He has been verbally informed about the dismissal. A written confirmation will be sent later.
“We are now investigating the matter,” the VC added.
What happened on the day?
Atiqur Rahman said that, on April 9, he called the student to the teacher’s common room after a class and helped her with a subject-related matter.
Other teachers were present in the room at that time.
Later, she requested him to give her one more day to complete the task. Initially, Atiqur refused, but after repeated requests, he agreed to give her time.
“On the day of the incident (April 11), she called me and said that she was at Arabik's coffee shop in Bashundhara Residential Area. Although I reached there at 10am, the student appeared at 10:30am,” Atiqur added.
After asking her about academic matters, she deliberately turned on her mobile phone and started talking to him about “iPhone” and tuition matters.
The teacher further said: “After around five minutes, 10-12 of her acquaintances who were already in the coffee shop started beating me and snatched my wallet, debit card, Tk12,000 in cash, home keys and my NID card.
“They also asked me for the debit card PIN number. Later, when I went to the proctor's office, only my mobile phone was returned,” he said.
Atiqur alleged that one of the students demanded Tk100,000 while another demanded Tk500,000 to keep the matter secret.
‘Dismissed on VC’s order’
On the conditions of anonymity, two teachers of NSU told Dhaka tribune that Atiqur was amicable, friendly and popular among the students.
Terming the incident “pre-planned”, they said that Atiqur had been trapped by a vested quarter. He had no allegations or any kind of complaint filed against him in the last few years.
Even the female student did not file an official complaint to the disciplinary committee or the proctor’s office, according to the faculties.
However, Proctor Abu Noman Mohammad Atahar Ali asked the teacher and the student separately about the incident.
Later, the proctor asked the student to file a written complaint against him and also took a written statement from the teacher, confirming that the incident had taken place outside the campus.
Proctor Abu Noman said that this was the vice chancellor’s order to dismiss him.
What do the students say?
On April 11, a Facebook page of NSU students against sexual harassment announced the matter of dismissal of Atiqur with a number of photos where the teacher was seen being thrashed and intimidated in public. They forced the teacher to seek an apology.
The post, written by one Muhaimin, also contained a contradictory narrative.
The friends of the student in question said that, when she had gone to Atiqur to understand an academic issue, he asked her to go to Jahangirnagar University campus so that they could discuss the matter.
When the student avoided him, Atiqur continued to harass her in various ways, even calling her at midnight. They claimed that the teacher had been pressuring her by tempting her to buy her an iPhone.
Later, the student reported the incident to her university friends, and on their advice, she asked Atiqur to visit a coffee shop.
When Atiqur went there and tried to run away sensing the presence of other students, he was chased and caught.
They claimed that, during the confrontation, Atiqur had tried to run away. But after he was caught, he offered them Tk100,000 so that they did not report the matter to the proctor office.
However, Atiqur denied any kind of harassment of the student, adding: "The student invited me to the coffee shop. If I’d had any bad intentions, I wouldn't have gone to the coffee shop.
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“I have already filed a case with the Bhatara police station [for defamation], and will file another under the Digital Security Act,” he continued.
Meanwhile, NSU student Sauda Raita said: "I don’t think the allegation is true. Meeting someone at a restaurant is not a crime. There are so many faculties who dated their students and later married them. If this was a crime, then no faculty would have done that.
“The other points need to be verified properly. A popular faculty of such two renowned institutions would never call a student to his room with bad intentions knowing the fact that there are cameras installed all over the campus.”
Sauda did a course under Atiqur and claimed that she and her classmates had never seen anything like this in his behaviour.
She urged the NSU authorities to investigate the matter properly. “Otherwise, it will become a new trend to defame faculties and frame them.”
Another student named Fardeen echoed the same concern and stressed the need for a proper investigation.
JU students protest in favor of Atiqur
Students of Jahangirnagar University staged a demonstration on the campus on Tuesday protesting the assault of Atiqur Rahman.
Over 100 students formed a human chain at the university’s Central Shaheed Minar and demanded exemplary punishment of the NSU students who tortured him based on shady allegations.
They also warned of a tough movement if the culprits were not brought to justice.
