Teacher suspended over ‘sexual harassment’

A teacher of Khulna Collegiate Girls' School & KCC Women's College has been suspended on Wednesday reportedly for sexually harassing a sixth grader of the institution.

The accused is Pradyut Kumar Bhattro, an assistant teacher of the school and college.

Prof. Md Touhiduzzaman, principal of the institution, said the decision was made on Wednesday following the order of Khulna city mayor Talukdar Abdul Khaleque, also president of the school governing body.
Quoting victim's mother Nasima Begum, Prof. Touhiduzzaman said Pradyut Kumar molested her daughter when she went to the washroom on Thursday (February 29).

Later, she lodged a complaint with the principal on Tuesday.

Initially, the authorities tried to sweep the incident under the carpet but when parents got enraged, accused teacher Pradyut Bhattro asked to show cause on Monday.

Later, a four-member probe body was formed to investigate the incident.

The probe body led by Rafia Akhtar, another teacher of the school, was asked to submit a report within seven days.

According to the students and parents, the accused teacher tried to molest the student when she went to the bathroom last Thursday. The teacher left the spot when two students came forward after seeing the matter. Since then, the accused has remained absent from duty.

SA