Sharmin Akter Ratna, a gold-winning shooter at the South Asian Games and Commonwealth Shooting Championship, filed a case on Thursday against Bangladesh Shooting Sports Federation (BSSF) joint secretary GM Haider Sajjad under Article 10 of the Bangladesh Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
The case was lodged at the Gulshan Police Station a day after national shooter Kamrun Nahar Koly filed a general diary (GD) against the same official on behalf of Ratna and fellow shooter Tasmayati Ema.
Ratna, who has been working as a coach since retiring from competition, alleged in case statement No. 53 that Sajjad -- also the joint secretary of Dhaka Rifles Club -- had been harassing her for years, starting from 2012 to the present. The allegations include proposals for physical relations, inappropriate touching, verbal abuse, obscene remarks, intentional hugs and other forms of misconduct.
She further stated that Sajjad had previously been suspended for four years by the federation over a women-related scandal, and had also been sentenced to three years in a case involving attempted murder of Dhaka Rifles Club member Abu Sadeque.
The complaint added that her two witnesses, Koly and Ema, were also subjected to mental harassment by Sajjad, who allegedly abused his official authority to prevent both shooters from joining national training camps and participating in international competitions.
According to the GD filed by Koly, Sajjad had also threatened to rape two national shooters inside the federation premises. Koly claimed she was confined inside the shooting office for four hours and verbally abused for the purpose of mental intimidation.
"We have repeatedly complained to the federation, the ministry and the National Sports Council, but no visible action has been taken. That's why I filed the case -- to seek justice under existing laws and to protect athletes in the future," Ratna told The Daily Star, adding that Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation chairperson and CEO Advocate Alena Khan will represent her in court.
Haider has denied all allegations.
"I don't have any connection with these accusations," Haider said, adding that if evidence exists, it should be presented publicly.
He further alleged, "Members of the previous executive committee are pulling strings from behind, using shooters close to them, because I had a bad relationship with the former committee."
