Rabindra University has temporarily suspended Farhana Yeasmin Baten, an associate professor of the Cultural Heritage and Bangladesh Studies Department, on the charges of forcibly cutting the hair of students.
The decision was made in a syndicate meeting led by acting Vice-Chancellor Md Abdul Latif on Thursday, according to a statement from the university. Also, all exams, academic and administrative activities of the university have been halted for an indefinite period, it said.
A panel formed to investigate the incident, however, will continue its work. A final decision on Farhana’s suspension will be made after the panel submits its report.
“We received video footage from a CCTV camera. It proves the incident of (the teacher) cutting off the hair of some students with scissors,” said Laila Ferdous Himel, chairman of the Rabindra Studies Department and head of the probe panel.
Students demanded the permanent removal of Farhana Baten as they continued campus protests.
At least five of the 14 students taking part in a hunger strike since Wednesday have been admitted to a local clinic after they fell ill, said Omar Faruk Dolphin, a third-year student.
The protesters claimed that the teacher had previously scolded a group of male students for keeping their hair long.
She was seen standing with a pair of scissors in front of an exam hall where first-year students sat for their final test on September 26. She then stopped students whose hair exceeded a certain length. Later, she chopped off the hair of 16 students at the entrance.
One of the victims tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills a day after the incident because of the humiliation, which led to the agitation on the campus.
The university authority formed a panel on Tuesday to investigate the incident. Farhana stepped down from three administrative positions according to the board’s decision, but she denied that she had forcibly cut the hair of 16 students.
“Nothing like this happened,” Farhana said in her denial of the incident, claiming she had not touched a hair on the students’ heads. “I was surprised to see it in the newspapers.”
The teacher said there should have been photos or videos of the alleged incident, and the students would not have taken the exam the next day had the incident actually happened. “If I wanted to cut the hair of 16 students and none of them protested at that time?”
“I haven’t cut the hair of a single student,” she said.
Farhana said she believed some ‘internal politics’ may have stirred the outcry.
“There was an issue in the university in 2019. At the time, I had filed a writ petition against the students on behalf of the teachers. Now those students are leading the protest against me,” she said.
After doing her master’s in anthropology at Dhaka University, Farhana had worked as a teacher of a private university for some time. She joined the public university in Sirajganj in 2018, reports bdnews24.com.