We strongly condemn and protest the gang rape of a housewife at Jahangirnagar University. The gruesome incident took place on Saturday night as a group of students confined the victim’s husband at the university’s Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall and violated her in a nearby bush.
Leaders of the hall unit of BCL are allegedly using this room of Mir Mosharraf Hall as a torture cell. When the alleged rapists released the man around one and a half hours later, he found his wife violated and ravaged in front of the hall.
Later some seven to eight BCL men ousted the couple from the campus and beat up the man while he tried to protest the gruesome incident. The incident sent a shockwave across the nation. We wonder the violated wife and her tortured husband were harassed at the police stations too. When they (the victims) went to file a case about the incident at the Ashulia police station, the cops there did not take the case and referred them to the Savar police station. Such incidents happening in our country’s university campus after 52 years of independence is a matter of shame. We have to decide what kind of a university we want to have-- a civilized one or vulgar spat full of barbarity.
We must ensure that such an incident does not happen in future to any of our daughters or sisters. The government must take the rape incident seriously.
Condemnation was widespread across the country and angry students of different universities continued gathering at their respective campuses demanding justice for the victims and taking immediate measures against alleged rapists. Such incident that took place on a university campus is just the degradation of an educational institution. We do not want to call the persons, who reportedly committed such crimes, human beings. They are as good as monsters and beasts. We express deep concern over the alleged incident and call upon the authorities to conduct an impartial investigation and bring those involved to book.
The
government must take the
rape incident
seriously
University is where knowledge originates and develops and students get life-oriented and moral education. So, when a heinous incident like rape happens on the university campus, we cannot but be shocked, saddened and outraged. A culture of impunity might lead to the recurrence of such incidents on university campuses. The demand that the perpetrators must be given exemplary punishment so that none can dare commit such a barbaric act against women in future.
We think the gang rape of a housewife is ‘shameful’ and ‘unbelievable’ in a ‘civilised society’. This type of atrocious incident should never repeat in our country.
It is the responsibility of the university authorities, teachers, and students to restore the academic atmosphere on the campus. We cannot imagine an incident like this where university students rape a woman abducting her husband.
But it is unfortunate that this is nothing new in this country. Such incident happened at the Sylhet MC College, where culprits and the accused were left unpunished. Such impunity encourages the repeat of such incidents that go frequently into oblivion and the collective shoulders of the society remains inactive against such outraging the modesty of our women. We think the incident which happened at Jahangirnagar University was a planned rape.
However, four students of the university were arrested for their alleged involvement in raping. We demand a quick judicial trial of this incident.