-- 4 students on hunger strike 

-- An effigy of the rapist burnt

-- DU BCL unit form human chain near Ruqayyah Hall 

Students of Dhaka University have been continuing their demonstration for the second consecutive day protesting the rape of one of their fellow students in Kurmitola on Airport Road Sunday night.

They want death for the rapist and were shouting "Hang the rapist".

Chanting slogans, several thousand students gathered in front of Ruqayyah Hall with placards demanding punishment of the culprit, reports our staff photographer from the spot.

They urged the government to bring the rapist to book immediately.

Outrage on the streets and on social media over the incident once again raising concern over women’s safety in the capital and elsewhere.

Many took to social media to express their anger at the lack of women safety in the country.

Meanwhile, three more students joined Sifatul Islam, a student of DU’s philosophy department who was observing a hunger strike in front of Raju Sculpture since 3:30am yesterday in protest over the incident.

Among the three, Saiful Islam Rasel of soil, water and environment department, and Mostafizur Rahman of information technology institute joined Sifatul yesterday while another started the hunger strike today.

The rape

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.

Her friends said she was supposed to get down at Sheora bus stand, but she left the bus in Kurmitola area mistakenly. She was going to the house to study with her friends ahead of exams.

A few minutes after she got off the bus, someone grabbed her from behind, gagged her and took her to an isolated place nearby.

She was raped and tortured there, some of her friends said, quoting her.

After regaining consciousness around 10:00pm, she somehow went to her friend’s home and her friends then took her to the DMCH.

The victim, a second-year student of DU, was undergoing treatment at the DMCH’s One-Stop Crisis Centre. She was taken to the hospital early yesterday.

She was still traumatised, said doctors last night.

Students took to the streets yesterday 

DU students, including members of different student bodies, started their demonstration yesterday morning. Their number increased as the day progressed.

Nearly a thousand leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League,  Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Santrash Birodhi Chhatra Oikya, a new alliance of 12 student organisations of Dhaka University, brought out processions, human chain and rallies on the campus. 

At one stage, followers of Santrash Birodhi Chhatra Oikya staged a sit-in blocking capital’s Shahbagh intersection for an hour.

Speaking there, Ducsu VP Nurul Haque Nur issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the DU and other authorities concerned for the arrest of the rapist(s).

“We will announce tougher programme if the rapist is not arrested within 48 hours,” he said.

Around 200 students went to the Kurmitola area in university buses and formed a human chain blocking the Airport Road near the crime scene. The demonstrators left after 40 minutes.