Teacher accused of attempting to rape students in Gopalganj

Allegations of attempting to rape two students of Ramshil Women’s College in Gopalganj's Kotalipara upazila have been brought up against the music teacher of the institution.

On July 5, Rajat Lal Halder, a music teacher from Barisal, attempted to rape the girls after he called them to his home and sedated them, said the parents of the two girls.

On July 9, locals decided to sideline him for a month,  a form of local redressal colloquially known as "ek ghore kore rakha." The punishment was delivered to him by community arbitration, said locals.

Barisal's Agailjhara police station's officer-in-charge(OC) Md Afzal Hossain said Rajat Lal Halder is also accused in a case filed for raping a schoolgirl under the Women and Child Repression Act, currently pending in Barisal court.

Locals said Rajat's wife is a nurse currently working at a hospital in Dhaka.

"Rajat had been making inappropriate proposals to my daughter for sometime. On the day of the rape attempt he sedated her with drugs," said the mother of one of the girls.

Joydeb Bala, headmaster of Ramshil Women's College said he heard of the allegations and that Rajat has a court case filed against him. "The incident will be investigated after the college opens and if proven, action will be taken against him as per the rules of the college."  

Denying the allegation, Rajat said, locals accusing him of attempting to rape was "resolved" in an arbitration and he was framed with a false rape case that is pending in Barisal court.