Protests erupt over rape of Dhaka University student

Angry students have blocked the Shahbagh intersection to protest the rape of a Dhaka University student in the capital’s Kurmitola area on Sunday.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Jan 2020, 07:58 AM
Updated : 6 Jan 2020, 05:56 PM

Similar protests erupted on the Dhaka University campus in the early hours of Monday. 

Traffic on several adjoining roads from Shahbagh came to a standstill around 12pm due to the protests. The students demanded justice and highest punishment for the ‘rapist’. 

The victim’s father filed the case with Cantonment Police Station against an unidentified person on Monday, said Kazi Shahan Haque, chief of the police station.

“An investigation opened into the incident. Efforts are underway to identify the criminals and the crime scene,” Haque told bdnews24.com.

The student boarded the university’s bus at 4pm to travel to her friend’s house to prepare for exams, said Dhaka Medical Police Outpost Inspector Bachchu Mia.

A man gagged her immediately after she got off the bus in Kurmitola at 7pm. He then took her to a nearby secluded place and raped her, said Bachchu Mia adding the girl lost consciousness at one point.

After she regained consciousness at 10pm, she visited her friend’s house in an autorickshaw and told her about the incident. Later, her classmates arrived and took her to the university’s hall.

Afterwards, she was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s One-Stop Crisis Centre at 1:15am.

Protests erupted across the campus subsequently after the students heard the news. Activists from several cultural organisations launched demonstrations as sooner as they knew about the incident.  

Md Sifatul Islam, a DU student of the philosophy department, launched a hunger strike at the altar of Raju Memorial Sculpture around 4am. The demonstrations intensified after more students gathered around the Raju Memorial Sculpture around 10am.

The leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League also joined the protests. Several organisations also staged protests and formed human chains demanding justice over the incident.