Bangladesh MP ‘hired lookalikes’ for varsity exams

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi lawmaker has been expelled from university after allegedly hiring as many as eight lookalikes to take exams in her place, officials said Monday.

Tamanna Nusrat, from the ruling Awami League party, is accused of paying the lookalikes to pretend to be her in at least 13 tests. The scandal emerged after private broadcaster Nagorik TV entered a test hall and confronted one of the women posing as Nusrat, in a video that went viral.

Nusrat, who was elected to parliament last year, was studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree with the Bangladesh Open University (BOU). "We expelled her because she has committed a crime. A crime is a crime," BOU head M.A. Mannan told AFP. "We have cancelled her enrolment. She will never be able to get admitted here again."

"The proxy students were protected by the MP´s musclemen when they sat for the tests. Everybody knew it but nobody uttered a word because she is from a very influential family," a college official said.

Nusrat could not be reached for comment. Test fraud, cheating and leaking of question papers ahead of exams are common in Bangladesh, prompting authorities frequently to cancel results.