ISLAMABAD: After a one-and-a-half-month investigation, a professor at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science, and Technology (FUUAST) Islamabad campus was fired for ‘harassing’ a female student via WhatsApp.
The harassment committee found evidence to back up the student’s claims that lecturer Zahid Sarfraz sent her inappropriate text messages and asked her to meet him alone.
The female student reported the incident to three senior lecturers, including Zubair Khan Niazi and Dr Imran Ashraf, who advised her to hush up and even threatened her with negative academic consequences and the possibility that her parents may also come to know about it.
Student’s stance
The girl also alleged that Zahid Sarfraz, who was the head of the physics department, also failed her by one mark. She also said that Zubair Khan Niazi and Dr Imran Ashraf demanded a written statement from her to withdraw the lawsuit and remove text messages from her mobile phone, threatening he to cancel her semester and harm her reputation if she did not comply.
The harassment committee has also recommended firing the teachers who pressured the student to remain silent. The committee also recommended an independent third party to verify the student’s results and examination papers.
According to a FUUAST spokesperson, the episode surfaced in December and the university administration formed an investigative committee to look into the matter. The spokesperson said Zahid Sarfraz accuser had recently been hired on as a contract teacher.
The investigation committee found Zahid Sarfaraz guilty of harassment, and the report concluded that he had harmed the dignity of his profession.
