Farhana Yasmin Baten, a teacher accused of forcibly cutting the hair of 16 students, has resigned from three posts she held at Rabindra University in Sirajganj.
Farhana resigned from her positions as the chairperson of the Cultural Heritage and Bangladesh Studies, assistant proctor and a member of the proctorial board of the university on Tuesday.
Confirming the matter, Prof Md Abdul Latif, acting vice-chancellor and treasurer of the university, said on Wednesday, “A five-member committee has also been formed to probe the incident. The committee has been asked to submit a report within the next seven days.”
Meanwhile, the students announced that they will continue their protest demanding Farhana be removed permanently.
They also announced staging a hunger strike on the campus until their demand is met.
Regarding the students’ demand, Latif said, “It is not immediately possible to remove her permanently before the probe is complete. Besides, there is no regular VC in the university to meet the demand right now.”
“Farhana has been removed from her posts respecting the demands of the students. Hopefully, the students will understand the matter,” he added.
Earlier on September 26, during an exam, Farhana entered the final examination hall and cut off the front part of the hair of 16 students. Farhana had earlier warned the students of having long hair.
The video of the incident went viral when a student posted it on social media.
Later on September 27, Farhana Yasmin called one of the students and insulted him for posting the video on social media. She also threatened to expel him from the university.
Following the incident, the student tried to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.
This agitated his fellow students who protested till late night on Monday night and resumed the demo the next day.
This prompted the university administration to hold a meeting with both students and teachers to resolve the issue.
According to the decision of the meeting, Farhana Yasmin Baten resigned from the 3 posts assigned to her.
