Mohammadpur school cleaner to be sacked

Rector Zeenatun Nesa to be removed for indecent behavior

Guardians protest at Mohammadpur Preparatory School and College on Saturday against alleged sexual assault of a first-grader girl. Photo: Palash Khan

Star Online Special

Authorities of Mohammadpur Preparatory Higher Secondary School have decided to sack cleaner Gopal for trying to sexually harass a Class-1 student and to remove school rector Zeenatun Nesa for her indecent behaviour with guardians over the issue.
“Cleaner Gopal will be sacked as per the recommendation by the probe committee,” Belayet Hossain, principal of the school, told The Daily Star.
The decisions were taken at the school’s board meeting yesterday evening after the body, formed to investigate the allegation of attempted sexual harassment, submitted its report with some recommendation, the principal said.
The school authorities do not know any whereabouts of Gopal since the student’s mother informed the school authorities about the May 9 incident.
Gopal is on leave from May 11, Belayet said.
A total of 12 CCTV cameras have been installed at the school.
The school was temporarily closed on May 15 in face of protests over sexual harassment of the minor student on May 4.

A probe committee formed by the school authorities said no such incident took place at the institution.
The probe report however, says a male staff gagged the student, brandished a knife and took her to a quiet place inside the school compound. The girl had punched him in the abdomen and fled.

UN chief stresses need to protect migrants stranded at sea

Rescued migrants suffer from exhaustion. Photo: Reuters

Star Online Report

Increasingly concerned about the plight of migrants and refugees stranded in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca, the UN chief and his deputy have spoken separately to leaders in Southeast Asia reiterating the need to protect lives and uphold the obligation of rescue at sea.

A statement issued in New York on May 17 by a UN spokesperson said in recent days, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak and Thai Premier Prayuth Chan-ocha.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has also spoken to the foreign minister of Bangladesh Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali and the Deputy-Minister for Multilateral Affairs of Indonesia Hasan Kleib, according to UN News Centre.

“In their discussions with leaders in the region, they reiterated the need to protect lives and uphold international law. Furthermore, they stressed the need for the timely disembarkation of migrants. They also urged leaders to uphold the obligation of rescue at sea and maintain the prohibition on refoulement,” the statement said.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, gestures during the session 'Tackling Climate, Development and Growth' in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos January 23, 2015. Reuters file photo

Refoulement is the forcible return of individuals to their country of origin where they could face persecution.

It went on to say the secretary-general and deputy secretary-general also encouraged leaders to participate in the upcoming regional meeting in Bangkok on the migrant situation.

“They hope that the meeting will lead to comprehensive outcomes at the regional and international levels,” said the statement, underscoring that the UN stands ready to assist all efforts to address the situation, including at the proposed meeting.

The statement by the top two UN officials comes in the wake of a strong call issued this past Friday by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who urged governments in Southeast Asia to take swift action to protect the lives of migrants stranded in precarious maritime conditions and warned against the policy of pushing boats back out to sea.

“I am appalled at reports that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been pushing boats full of vulnerable migrants back out to sea, which will inevitably lead to many avoidable deaths,” the UN rights chief said. “The focus should be on saving lives, not further endangering them.”

While Zeid praised Indonesia for disembarking 582 migrants on 10 May, and Malaysia for disembarking 1,018 the following day, he said the “incomprehensible and inhumane” policy of “pushbacks” was endangering lives. He also spoke against countries' plans to criminalize vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers who have crossed borders irregularly.

 “Governments in South-East Asia need to respond to this crisis from the premise that migrants, regardless of their legal status, how they arrive at borders, or where they come from, are people with rights that must be upheld,” he said. “Criminalizing such vulnerable people, including children, and placing them in detention is not the solution.”

Around 6,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants are believed to remain stranded at sea in precarious conditions in the region and the High Commissioner said the individual circumstances of all migrants and asylum seekers at international borders should be assessed, and appropriate protection provided according to international human rights and refugee law, including ensuring that the principle of non-refoulement is upheld.

He called for further action against traffickers and abusive smugglers and welcomed the announcement that Thailand would host a regional meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean on 29 May. In discussions on comprehensive responses, the regional meeting would seek to address root causes, one of which, he said, was the importance of addressing the serious human rights situation in Rakhine state, in Myanmar.

Khilgaon OC jailed for torturing DU student

A Dhaka court sentences Helal Uddin, a former officer-in-charge of Khilgaon Police Station, to three years’ imprisonment for torturing Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar and implicating him in three false cases three years back. In the STAR file photo, Kadar is seen inside a police van.

Star Online Report

A Dhaka court today sentenced Helal Uddin, a former officer-in-charge of Khilgaon Police Station, to three years’ imprisonment for torturing Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar and implicating him in three false cases three years back.
The former police officer was convicted in absentia of torturing the biochemistry and molecular biology student.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Kabir Raj also fined the convict Tk 10,000, in default of which he will suffer three months more in jail.
The punishment of the fugitive will be effective from the day of his arrest or surrender.
Kadar was detained on charges of robbery when he was returning to his dormitory around 1:30am on July 16, 2011.
He was arrested even after he showed police his identity card, he said, adding that they even stabbed him in the left calf with a cleaver.
Police filed three separate cases against Kadar to implicate him falsely. But following media outcry, the High Court on July 28 that year ordered the inspector general of police to probe the incident.

Three officials of Khilgaon Police Station, including the officer-in-charge, were suspended and Kadar was released on bail on August 3.
Kadar was acquitted of all charges in 2012. He on January 23, 2012, sued officer-in-charge Helal Uddin for torturing him and filing false cases against him.