DU Student Rape: Protests rage on

Aged between 25 and 30; height  around five and a half feet; tan complexion; short hair; and clad in an  old pair of jeans and a dirty black jacket.

This is how the  second-year Dhaka University student, who was raped near the capital’s  Kurmitola General Hospital on Sunday night, described the rapist in her  statement to a law enforcement agency.

Based on the  statement, the law enforcers made a sketch of the culprit and were  trying to identify and arrest him. They were also analysing the footage  of the CCTVs installed in the area near the crime scene, said police and  Rab sources.

In the latest development, several media  outlets early today reported that a suspect was identified and kept  under watch by a law enforcement agency. No other details were provided  immediately.

Yesterday, students continued demonstrations  for the second straight day, demanding the rapist be arrested  immediately. They demonstrated at DU and many other educational  institutions in others districts.

The Detective Branch of  police is investigating the case. Several other police units were  assisting with the investigation, said Sudip Chakraborty, deputy  commissioner (Gulshan Division) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Talking  to The Daily Star, Lt Col Sarwar Bin Quashem, director of Rab’s legal  and media wing, said arresting the rapist was their top priority.  “Several of our teams are working,” he said.

National  Human Rights Commission Chairperson Nasima Begum yesterday visited the  victim, 21, at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s One-stop Crisis  Centre, where she was undergoing treatment.

Talking to reporters later, the NHRC chief said the victim would be able to identify her rapist, if she saw him again.

Nasima demanded the culprit’s immediate arrest and exemplary punishment.

She  also praised the victim for showing intelligence by not removing any  evidence and added that it should not be difficult to identify the  rapist through DNA matching.

Asked about the victim, DMCH  Director Brig Gen AKM Nasir Uddin said her condition improved yesterday.  He also said she was being treated by a seven-member medical board.

The  rape took place while the victim was walking from Kurmitola bus stop to  a friend’s house in nearby Sheora area around 7:30pm on Sunday. She had  just got off a university bus.

The rapist grabbed her  from behind, gagged her and took her to an isolated place nearby. She  was raped and tortured there, said some of her friends, quoting her.

Her friends took her to the DMCH in the early hours of Monday.

As  the day progressed, the DU erupted in protest. Hundreds of students,  irrespective of their political affiliations, demonstrated throughout  the day, demanding justice for the victim.

The victim’s  father filed a rape case with Cantonment Police Station. The case  statements say the rapist also snatched the victim’s cell phone and Tk  2,000.

THE PROTESTS

The protests continued  yesterday. Students formed human chains, held protest rallies, and paint  graffiti on roads to press home their demand.

Covering  faces with black cloth, around 50 DU Bangla department students formed a  human chain in front of Raju Memorial Sculpture on the campus around  10:30am.

They demanded capital punishment for the rapist and urged the university administration to ensure security for all its students.

Later around noon, students of the university’s political science department formed a human chain there.

The demonstrators also burned an effigy of the rapist.

At  another human chain nearby, members of different cultural organisations  demanded immediate steps to ensure women’s safety in the capital and  elsewhere.

Fine Arts students painted graffiti on the  street from near the gate of Ruqayyah Hall to Raju Memorial Sculpture in  the TSC area.

During the protests, DU Chhatra League  General Secretary Saddam Hussain, also assistant general secretary of  Ducsu, said they submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Asaduzzaman  Khan on Monday night, demanding that the culprit be identified in 24  hours.

He warned that they would march towards the home ministry if the rapist was not arrested soon.

Yesterday,  hundreds of other students gathered near the Ruqayyah Hall. Many of  them held placards demanding punishment for the culprit.

Meanwhile,  four DU students, who went on a hunger strike on Monday demanding the  rapist’s arrest, withdrew the strike last night after DU Vice Chancellor  Md Akhtaruzzaman assured them of immediate steps.

“If  justice is not done, I myself will start a hunger strike,” he told the  students near the Raju Memorial Sculpture around 10:30pm.

At  Jahangirnagar University, members of Chhatra League, left-leaning  student organisations and quota reformists brought out separate  processions on the campus, demanding justice for the DU student.

In  Barishal, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and Samajtantrik Mahila Forum  formed a human chain in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall in the city.

Students in Narayanganj also formed human chain in several places of the city.