Saadar Bashir, a biology professor at the Islamabad Model College, appointed as the invigilator at Bahria College, was accused of harassing more than 80 female students who were present there for their practical intermediate exam.
The students accused Bashir of inappropriately touching and passing scandalous comments at them during their Biology practical exam.
One of the students posted on her Facebook account that she was groped twice by the examiner during her exam on the 24th of May.
She said, “He touched me twice inappropriately during the exams.”
The student went on to add that the examiner had groped almost 80 students and passed nasty remarks at them. Since then, 18 more students have come forward with testimonies, accusing Bashir of the same.
Several celebrities like Mahira Khan, Meesha Shafi, Mawra Hocane, Harem Farooq, Osman Khalid Butt, and more have come out in support of the victims and to name and shame the accused, demanding call for action.
The Verna leading lady tweeted, “Name and shame this man!! Shame on Sadat Bashir!! Make an example out of him. May justice be served to all these brave girls and God knows how many before them.” Hocane came forward to reveal that she had been an alumni of the same school and has reached out to the authorities for taking immediate action.
She wrote, “Punish Sadat Bashir. Period. #BahriaCollegeCase I’ve spoken to relevant authorities at Bahria College, action has been taken already. Looking forward to a severe punishment,” the Sammi star tweeted.
Pakistan’s advocate for the #MeToo movement, the popular singer Meesha Shafi, also voiced her thoughts on the matter.
Shafi was one of the first to address the issue, commending Saba for sharing her horrific experience.
Meesha tweeted, “All strength and power to this brave sister for sharing her disgusting and alarming experience. #BahriaCollege kindly take immediate action. We are all watching and we are all waiting!”
Meanwhile, the college has lodged an official complaint to the board alleging harassment and misconduct on the part of the invigilator.”We have received a complaint today and are looking into it to dig out facts by holding an inquiry”, an official privy to the development told The Express Tribune.
On the contrary, Bashir denied the accusations saying,”I might have bumped into someone in the lab where many students were performing dissection, but that does not mean it was deliberately done or I wanted to harass the students. I’m a struggling teacher with 12 years of experience and my family is in shock after this malicious campaign against me,” he claimed.
Published in Daily Times, May 31th 2018.