SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Mohammadpur Preparatory School and College authorities dismissed its vice-principal (English version) Zennatun Nessa and suspended two male staff on Saturday amid protests against an alleged attempt by a school employee to sexually harass a Class I student, said officials of the institution.BUET professor and the school governing committee member M Tamim told New Age, ‘The teacher has been released from her duty as she was found guilty of misbehaving with the guardians on many occasions.’Guardians have alleged that Zennatun Nessa made objectionable comments on the allegation of sexual harassment in a bid to save the perpetrators.Meanwhile, the institution’s principal, Belayet Hossain, said they already suspended two staff —supervisor Sharif and sweeper Gopal — following the allegation of attempted sexual harassment of the girl on May 4 on the school campus.
The school would remain closed for summer vacation in May 17-25, he added.Earlier, in the morning, several hundred students and their guardians demonstrated on the school premises, demanding punishment of the staff and resignation of the institution’s vice-principal.Entering the school premises, some of the demonstrators assaulted the principal and vandalised a room.Tania Islam, a guardian, said teachers and officials of the institution repeatedly threatened them with ousting their children from the school if they did not stop the protests.Another guardian ABM Sohel Bashir alleged that the school authorities also tried to ‘manage’ the victim’s father to suppress the incident.

‘We have heard that the principal and other officials of the school threatened the victim’s father asking him to withdraw his complaint,’ he said at the demonstration.Belayet Hossain, however, denied the allegation of threatening the parents and said they were planning to replace all of their male staff with females.Habiba Nowrose, an ex-student of the school, said this type of heinous incidents took place several times in the school but the authorities always remained reluctant to deal with the issue.‘If those incidents were taken seriously and if there was a permanent anti-sexual harassment cell at the school, this incident would not have taken place,’ she said.Talking to New Age, officials of the school said in December in 2014 another incident of sexual harassment took place in the school, and following the incident, the authorities then sacked a chemistry teacher Salen Azzam Niazi.
In this regard, Belayet said they had taken the matter seriously and would punish the culprits after getting the report of investigation committee.On May 9, a three-member investigation committee, including the victim’s father and headed by a teacher of the school, Mostafizur Rahman, was formed, said Belayet.

- See more at: http://newagebd.net/120605/city-school-suspends-vice-principal-two-staff/#sthash.OsgSD8Jx.dpuf