A hotelier severely beat up teenage twin sisters in the capital's Mirpur yesterday for protesting abusive language used by him.

The sisters came under attack around 11:30am when they were returning home from BCIC College on Chiriakhana Road.

The 16-year-old sisters are HSC students at the college.

Talking to The Daily Star, one of the sisters said they were waiting on the road, around 100 yards from the main entrance to the college, for a bus to Monipur.

All of a sudden a man, aged about 30, hurled abuse at her. As she glanced back, the man became furious, used abusive words and slapped her on the face.

Seeing the incident, her twin came forward to save her, but this only infuriated the attacker. The man slapped and kicked the twins.

Trying to get away from the attacker, the duo ran towards the college gate. The man followed them, picked up a bamboo stick and hit the siblings with it.

As a few college students tried to subdue the assaulter, some 10 men took up the cudgels for the attacker to keep the students at bay, said Meem.

A little later, students took the injured girls to the principal's room. The principal sent the two to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Pongu Hospital).

The victims informed their parents about the incident over the phone. They were later taken home from the hospital.

Local businessmen identified the attacker to be Jibon Karim Babu, owner of Ahona Fast Food and Khabar Hotel in the area.

The hotel was found closed following the incident.

Victims' father Ahsan Habib said one of his daughters fractured her left leg while the other suffered several injuries.

Their mother Fatema Yasmin said she was afraid of sending her daughters to the college.

Locals said witnesses did not come forward to rescue the girls as Babu is an influential man in the area.

Anwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station, said Ahsan filed a case with the police station, accusing Babu and some unnamed men of the attack.

Police raided Babu's house near his hotel in the afternoon, but did not find him there.

The victims' parents and teachers demanded exemplary punishment for the attacker's'.