A female student of Dhaka University (DU) on Saturday filed a written complaint accusing Professor Naadir Junaid of the Mass Communication and Journalism Department of sexual harassment and prolonged psychological abuse.

Confirming the matter, DU Proctor Professor Md Maksudur Rahman said he received the  written complaint.

In the written complaint, the student brought a number of allegations, including unwanted romantic advances, surveillance via CCTV, and explicit sexual comments.

“He used to make lewd comments about my physical appearance and express sexual tension. At the same time, he used to persuade me to participate in phone conversations of a sexual nature,” she explained.

The student, in her complaint, also expressed enduring mental distress, resulting in insomnia and reliance on counselling and sleeping pills.

“Over the past year and a half, I have endured significant mental distress. Unfortunately, I found it challenging to articulate this pain directly to him," she wrote.

"The emotional strain became so intense that it began affecting my sleep, leading to insomnia at night. In order to cope, I decided to seek counseling at the beginning of last year and unfortunately, I also had to resort to sleeping pills," she added.

The student wrote that she tried to ignore his romantic advances but she couldn’t shut off communication completely fearing repercussions as Prof Naadir holds significant power in the department.

She also highlighted instances of public humiliation and verbal abuse when attempting to disengage from the professor's advances.

Furthermore, the student alleged a culture of fear within the department, citing the professor's monitoring of social media discussions and making inappropriate comments about other female students.

“I have come to know that on many occassions several other students were approached by him,” she wrote.

The student urged for resolute measures to be taken post a fair investigation.

This correspondent tried to contact Professor Naadir Junaid over phone for comment but he didn’t receive the calls.