Ex-VC of Khulna Agricultural University jailed in rape case
A Khulna court has sent former vice chancellor of Khulna Agricultural University professor Shahidur Rahman Khan to jail in a case filed for raping an employee of the university, reports UNB.
Khulna Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Abdus Salam Khan rejected a bail plea for Shahidur and sent him to jail, according to Bench Assistant of the court Rubel Khan.
According to court records, on 13 March, the former VC’s personal assistant filed the case against him. The current registrar Khandaker Mazharul Anwar was also sued for aiding and abetting the rape.
Earlier, Shahidur secured anticipatory bail from the High Court in the case. After the expiry of the bail period, he surrendered before the lower court and again applied for bail. On Monday afternoon, the judge rejected the petition and sent him to jail.
According to the case details, the victim worked as an employee at Khulna Agricultural University in 2021. Shahidur Rahman, the then vice-chancellor, lived alone on the fifth floor of the rented administrative building in Sonadanga area of the city. Since there was no provision for food, the registrar assigned the woman to arrange food for the vice-chancellor.
The woman, who was married, began delivering food to Shahidur every day. Taking advantage of the situation, the former VC made advances on her on several occasions. The victim reported the matter to the registrar. On the evening of 16 December 2021, when the victim went to give food, the then-VC raped her with the help of the registrar in a pre-planned manner, mentioned the case statement.
The woman eventually went on to divorce her husband after getting a marriage proposal from Shahidur. Later he refused to marry her, and the woman approached the court.