Rape at Riyadh safehouse: Deputy Secretary Mehedi Hasan sacked

Deputy Secretary Mehedi Hasan has been sacked for sexually abusing and raping domestic workers sheltered at the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, the official got suspended and was made the Public Administration Ministry's special officer-in-charge.

He was finally dismissed as the allegations were proven in an investigation, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Public Administration on Thursday.

The investigation was initiated after allegations were made against Mehedi, an officer of the administration cadre of the 21st BCS, over sexual assault and rape of domestic workers while he was serving as a counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh.

The ministry notification said, "Mehedi Hasan was relieved from that post on 24 January 2021 as the allegations of sexual abuse, of some domestic workers sheltered in the safehouse of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh, were proved in the investigation of the embassy concerned.

"After that, he was suspended from service on 8 February 2021 so that departmental action could be taken against him."

Later, he was given a show cause notice on 10 March of that year with a departmental case filed over allegations of misconduct.

On 8 April 2021, Mehdi Hasan responded to the show cause and applied for a personal hearing. 

The statements filed in the personal hearing, however, were not considered satisfactory. Later, an inquiry officer was appointed on 20 June of that year to investigate the allegations against him.