Protests continue

Protest against the sexual assault on women during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations on the Dhaka University campus continued yesterday with police yet to make any headway in identifying the culprits even a week after the incident.

Students of Dhaka University and activists of different student organisations and cultural platforms staged protest on the campus yesterday. Such programmes were reported from several districts, including Dinajpur and Manikganj, as well.

Initially, the media reported that about 20 women were sexually assaulted by some 30 to 40 rowdy youths during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations on the DU campus.

But after scrutinising an hour-long footage of a CCTV camera, The Daily Star found that the actual number of victims could be much higher.

Yesterday, Bangladesh Chhatra Union submitted a memorandum to the home ministry, demanding immediate arrest of the offenders and proper investigation into the alleged negligence of on-duty police personnel.

As per the scheduled programme, leaders and activists of the student organisation gathered at Dhaka University around 11:00am and started marching towards the Secretariat to submit the memorandum.

When the procession reached the Jatiya Press Club, police barred them by barricading the road leading to the Secretariat Building.
A scuffle broke out between the protesters and the police. Later, a six-member delegation, led by the organisation's president Hasan Tarek, went to the Secretariat.

Laki Akhter, general secretary of Chhatra Union, said, “We have submitted a memorandum to the state minister for home to press home our demands. The state minister assured us that legal actions would be taken against the culprits.”

She said they would announce tougher programmes today if there was no visible progress in this regard by the time.
SM Shibli Noman, assistant commissioner (Ramna zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star that a high-powered team was investigating the alleged negligence of on-duty police, and actions would be taken after the report is submitted.

Bangladesh Chhatra Union activists of Dhaka University, who protected a number of victims from the molesters, alleged that police released all the five culprits they had caught red handed.

Sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station Ashraful Islam was blamed for releasing at least one of the molesters that night. He later confessed to it. Ashraful has been withdrawn.

Meanwhile, students of English and Anthropology departments of the DU formed a human chain on the campus, demanding immediate arrest of the molesters.

Shamajtantrik Chhatra Front brought out a procession on the campus while Sammilita Sangskritik Jote formed a human chain at the Suhrawardy Udyan gate near the TSC area.

Meanwhile, Jahangir Alam Sarker, acting deputy commissioner (media) of DMP, said they could neither identify nor arrest anyone in connection with the incident yet.

State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan said law enforcers were trying to identify the actual culprits involved in the incident. Police was also examining the video footage of the harassment, reports BSS.