UNB :
The probe committee for the alleged incident of a teacher giving forced haircuts to 14 students at Rabindra University Bangladesh (RUB), has given the accused teacher more time to submit her deposition before it.
Farhana Yasmin Baten. a teacher of the Cultural Heritage and Bangladesh Studies Department of the university, has now been asked to appear before the probe committee on October 21.
Laila Ferdous Himel, chairperson of RUB’s study department and head of the probe committee, confirmed the development.
She said Farhana has been given the extension after a meeting of the probe committee on Tuesday afternoon.
“Earlier, the time was extended twice but she didn’t appear before the committee on October 5 due to her illness. She mailed that she needed two weeks more and the committee in response to her request extended the time for her.”
She will now appear before the probe committee on October 21 at noon and present her statement. The investigation report will be submitted after receiving her statement. However, if she does not appear before the committee, the next decision will be taken, Laila Ferdous said.
Meanwhile, the probe committee in this regard has taken the testimony of 14 victim students, half a hundred students, teachers and employees on October 5.
On September 26, Farhana instructed an office assistant to trim the hair of 14 first-year students as they were entering examination halls, apparently for ignoring her previous instructions to get haircuts.
Unable to bear the humiliation, Nazmul Hasan Tuhin, 25, a student of the department, consumed sleeping pills the following day in an attempt to take his own life.
Although she submitted her resignation as department chair, assistant proctor, and member of the proctorial board, Farhana has continued to deny the allegations and claimed the charges against her were all fabricated, as she rejected the request of a few students to defer the exam. Students are demanding her termination as a teacher as well.
