The protesters demanded exemplary punishment for ‘rapists and their facilitators’
Published : 11 Mar 2024, 01:11 PM
Protesters have locked the administrative building at Jahangirnagar University as a part of its blockade programme over the alleged rape of a woman near Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall.
Prof Parveen Jolly – an organiser for protest group Nipiron Birodhi Mancha (NBM) - announced the blockade programme on Sunday night.
The NBM also put forth a five-point demand to ensure the exemplary punishment of ‘rapists and their facilitators’ after locking the gates at 8:30am on Monday.
According to Arif Sohail, a student of the university’s international relations department, the vice-chancellor left through the back door after a meeting was held at the university premises on Sunday.
“We can no longer trust the vice-chancellor. His suspicious behaviour has prompted us to lock the gates to prevent entry to the building,” said Arif.
He also told reporters that the NBM plans on continuing their blockade programme until their five-point list of demands is met.
On Feb 3, a woman was allegedly raped at the botanical garden on campus after rapists trapped her husband in a residential hall.
Later, a case was filed by the survivor’s husband under the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act at the Ashulia Police Station on the night of the incident.
The key suspect in the case, Mostafizur Rahman, is a student of the 2015-16 session at the Department of International Relations. A former secretary of international relations affairs at the JU wing of Chhatra League, Mostafizur is a resident of Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall.
Mostafizur’s acquaintance, Mamunur Rashid and six others have also been accused in the case.
Since the incident, several students and teachers have been demonstrating using a banner of the NBM at the university premises.
Their five-point demand includes the exemplary punishment of the rapists and their accomplices, ensuring the accommodation of regular students by evicting the non-students from the residential halls, identifying and punishing the students engaged in ragging, and bringing those accused of various on-campus crimes to justice.
In addition to investigating the involvement of the proctor and chief of Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall over the incident, the protesters have also demanded their temporary resignations from the posts. They also want legal action to be taken against drug syndicates on the campus.