Former Bangladesh women’s cricket captain Jahanara Alam has expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation report prepared following her sexual harassment allegations, raising concerns over a lack of transparency from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
In a statement issued by her legal representatives, Mahbub & Company, Jahanara said she was neither formally informed of the findings nor provided with a copy of the report, despite being the complainant.
Her lawyers argued that, under due process, Jahanara has a clear right to know the outcome of the investigation. They criticised the BCB for failing to officially communicate the conclusions or share any documentation related to the inquiry.
The BCB has stated that two of the four allegations raised by Jahanara were found to be substantiated. However, the board did not clarify which specific allegations were proven, nor did it outline the factual grounds on which those findings were reached. This lack of detail has been cited by Jahanara’s legal team as a major shortcoming of the report.
Another point of contention concerns the formation of the inquiry committee. The BCB has claimed that the committee was established independently and not directly in response to Jahanara’s complaint. This claim has been disputed by Jahanara, who asserted that the committee was formed precisely to investigate her formal allegations of sexual harassment.
In a press release issued last Wednesday, the BCB said that preliminary evidence supported several of Jahanara’s claims. The inquiry committee, it added, found proof of misconduct and harassment involving former women’s team selector and manager Manjurul Islam.
Jahanara had submitted four specific allegations. The committee confirmed the validity of two of them, both relating to Manjurul Islam.
According to the findings, some of Manjurul Islam’s actions fall under the definitions of “misconduct” and “harassment” as outlined in Supreme Court guidelines. The BCB said it has begun the process of taking appropriate action against the accused in line with existing laws and the board’s internal regulations.
