Atleast 80 girls sexually harassed at private college in Islamabad
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ISLAMABAD – 80 College girls have been sexually harassed at the Bahria College in Islamabad.
More than a dozen college students have accused an examiner, appointed by Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, of sexual abuse and harassment during biology practical at the prestigious Bahria College.
Sadat Bashir, a teacher at Islamabad Model College for Boys in H-9 sector of Islamabad, allegedly harassed over 80 girls by touching them inappropriately, groping them and threatening to deduct their marks.
One of the ‘victims’, Saba Ali took to the social media to share her ordeal <link>: “We were having our practical[s] of HSC Part 2 of Biology and they conducted it into three different groups. Group 1 had their practical on Friday, group 2 which was our group had practical on Saturday and last group’s practical was on Sunday.”
“We were informed by the first group that the examiner was very strict, didn’t listen to the teachers and he didn’t even let the teachers inside the laboratory where he had harassed many girls by touching them in between their thighs, some of them on their backs and even on their breasts.
“He groped me twice, once when I went for the model recognition and he touched my butt and second when I was making the slides. He came behind me and traced my bra strap all the while pretending he was just examining my slide.
“Thirdly when I was doing my frog dissection he came up to me and asked what kind of a frog it was. I got extremely nervous and told him it was a male frog to which he very inappropriately replied “It’s a female frog can’t you see the ovaries, you have them inside you too!” the girl added.
“All of this made me extremely uncomfortable and I had no idea what to do. None of us said anything to him because he kept threatening to deduct our marks,” she continued.
Ali received huge support on Facebook where she shared her post:
Meanwhile, a campaign against the alleged molester, #PunishSadatBashir, has been trending on Twitter as well, following the testimonies by 18 girls.
Another girl, who goes by the name of Ushnaa, says she plans on calling and filing a complaint against the educator.
“It’s not something huge if I do it, but even if 30 people from my followers call and complain, it could make a difference,” she wrote in a tweet.
Incidents of sexual harassment are on the rise in the country. With social media providing a voice to the vicitms, more and more people are coming up with their stories and demanding an action against the culprits.
The campaign continues on Facebook and Twitter and is being encouraged by various celebrities as well, including Meesha Shafi who recently spoke about being sexually harassed at the hands of fellow singer Ali Zafar.
As many as 11 cases of child sexual abuse are reported from across Pakistan every day, according to data collected by non-governmental organisation Sahil.
Last week, a schoolteacher was arrested for attempting to rape a nine-year-old girl in Gujjar Khan area of Punjab.
