It is now two weeks since a first year student of the finance and banking department of Islamic University in Kushtia was made to endure a night of unspeakable torture and humiliation. Thanks to her courage and tenacity in filing a formal, written comlaint to the university authorities the very next day, this disturbing incident perpetrated by the university's Chhatra League unit, more specifically the leadership of the women's wing within that unit, couldn't be suppressed.
However the student body can't help but note that even though two weeks have passed since then, there has been no action taken till now against the prime accused: IU BCL unit vice-president Shanjida Chowdhury Ontora and her cohorts, themselves all BCL activists even if not holding any post including Tabbassum, Israt Jahan Min, Halima Khatun Urmi and Maobiya. This holds true for both the university administration as well as the BCL unit.
Even thirteen days after the night of horror that played out at the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall, authorities had failed to collect CCTV footage of that night from the hall.
Many students are not surprised by that. They. allege that the number of ragging and torturing incidents have increased on campus due to the consistent lack of action against the perpetrators, despite submitting written complaints to the university administration, as the latest victim did.
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"A couple of weeks have been passed but no action was taken against accused," Bangladesh Chhatra Union IU unit president Emanul Islam Shohan said.
The university administration should have taken action against the accused after they had received the complaint from the victim but they did not do that, he added.
IU law department Professor M Johurul Islam told UNB that the university administration could have primarily taken action against the accused under the code of conduct of the university.
"There was no legal obstacle to taking action against the accused and the university authorities had many ways to take actions in this connection," he added.
IU BCL unit president Faisal Siddike Arafat said that they formed a probe body in this connection. They would recommend to the central BCL to take organisational action against Ontora after getting the probe report.
Ataur Rahman, father of the victim, said that he brought his daughter to the campus four times as part of the investigation. ‘The health condition of my daughter was not so good,’ he said.
When asked about what he will do if she does not get justice, he said that he would lodge a case for legal action in this connection.
Professor Reba Mondol, convener of the probe body formed by the university administration on February 15, could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts for her comments in this regard.
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IU pro-vice-chancellor Professor M Mahbubur Rahman said that they would take stern action against the accused involved in the incident after getting the probe report.
On February 12 night, a group of BCL activists led by Ontora and her cohorts including Tabassum went to the victim’s room and reportedly assaulted and tortured her.
Ontora, at one stage, forced the victim to get undressed and videoed the incident on her mobile phone.
The BCL leader also threatened that she would make the video viral on social media if the victim disclosed the matter to anyone, according to the complainant.
The victim lodged a written complaint with the university administration, including the university proctor, student adviser and the hall provost, demanding punishment of those involved in the incident on February 14.
A writ petition was also filed by Gazi Mohammad Mohsin, an alumnus of the university and a lawyer, with the High Court on Thursday.
Kushtia district administration, meanwhile, formed a three-member inquiry committee, led by additional district magistrate ANM Abujar Gifari, and asked it to submit its report within seven days following a High Court order on February 20.
Accused BCL leader Ontara and activist Tabassum left the hall following the High Court order. However they have reportedly apologised to the victim, effectively owning up to their guilt.