Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday asked the deputy commissioner of Kushtia to investigate the incident of a teacher being raped allegedly by the headmaster of her school.

Citing the report published in The Daily Star on May 17 in this regard, he also instructed Deputy Commissioner Sayed Belal Hossain to take stern action against whoever is found guilty in the probe.

Nahid said this while talking to The Daily Star yesterday.

Shariful Islam, headmaster of a high school in Meherpur's Mujibnagar upazila, allegedly raped the teacher on Friday. The victim went to Kushtia town on Thursday night with the headmaster, whom she looked upon as her guardian, to take the Teachers' Registration Examination that would make her job permanent.

The victim lodged a case with Kushtia Model Police Station on Sunday night. In the case statement, she said Shariful and she had taken two rooms at Al Amin Hotel at Barabazar in Kushtia town on Thursday night.

Shariful knocked on the door early Friday and offered to give her some tips on the exam, she alleged.

As she opened the door, Shariful entered the room, closed the door and raped her, she claimed.

Shariful went into hiding after the incident.

The minister said the DC informed him that "some progress" had been made in the investigation.