Sprinter Jahir Rayhan suspended following rape charges

National athlete Jahir Rayhan has been expelled from the ongoing national athletics camp and was also suspended to take part in domestic and international competitions following rape charges.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) after Jahir was sent to jail in Gazipur on Wednesday as the athlete surrendered before the court to get a bail over a rape case filed by a woman athlete in March 29, 2019.

Manju Morshed, lawyer of the plaintiff, informed that the complainant met Jahir at BKSP in 2017 during a training program. Afterwards, the two had a relation and were heading towards tying the knot, as promised by Jahir, until he raped the complainant in 2019.

BAF general secretary Abdur Rakib Montu informed the media that they would let Jahir's employer Bangladesh Navy know about the federation's decision.

"The executive committee decided to expel him from the ongoing camp for breaching the disciplines, departure from the camp without permission and moral decline. He has also been asked to refrain from participating in any domestic and international meets until further announcements are made," said Montu.

"As it is a sub-judiciary matter and that we came to know from the newspaper, we had to take this decision," the general secretary added.

Jahir was one of six athletes who have been preparing for the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games and the next South Asian Games. The lad from Sherpur also participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games earlier this year.

Jahir came into the limelight after reaching the semifinals of the World U-18 Championships in Nairobi in 2017 with a time of 48 seconds in the 400m event. He then went on to clock 46.86 seconds in his first-ever participation in the 2019 national athletics championships to eclipse the previous best of 47.55 seconds by Milzar Hossain during the Asian Games in Seoul, South Korea in 1986.

The 21-year-old athlete is considered one of most talented athletes in recent times and the Bangladesh Athletic Federation banked on him to break the gold drought in South Asian Games in 2019 but the Bangladesh Navy athlete had to quit following a breathing problem.