The two female Chhatra League leaders, Sanjida Chowdhury and Tabassum Islam, accused of torturing a student at the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina student hall of Islamic University in Kushtia, have left the campus. The university's proctor Shahadat Hossain confirmed that they left the campus for their respective homes on Thursday evening.
A first year student of the university alleged that they had detained and tortured her for four and a half hours in the 'gono room' of the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall on Sunday night. According to the victim, followers of the Sanjida Chowdhury, vice president of the university Chhatra League, carried out the torture led by Sanjida. They stripped off her clothes and filmed her, abused her verbally and threated to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The student on Wednesday afternoon submitted a written complaint in this regard to the university proctor, hall provost and student counselor.
A High Court bench comprising Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil on Thursday issued a ruling on Thursday during the preliminary hearing of a writ in connection with the incident. Alongside the formation of a three-member committee to investigate the incident, the High Court directed the university authorities to ensure that Sanjida and Tabassum do not remain in the campus during the investigations. The committee, however, may summon them in interests of the investigation. The court also ordered that the student's security be ensured.
Speaking to Prothom Alo Friday morning, university proctor Shahadat Hossain said they had not received written orders from the High Court as yet. But after learning about certain matters through the media and other sources, the vice chancellor told the two students to leave the campus. He apprised the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall provost of the matter. The provost, at 6:00 in the evening, confirmed that they had left the hall and the campus.
The proctor said they had spoken to the families of the two girls. They left the campus after that. One of the girl's home was in Rangpur and she had gone to her father's workplace in Rajshahi. The other was from a district a bit far away and so she spent the night in Kushtia.
Proctor Shahadat Hossain said that the vice chancellor had spoken about the security of the victim. The proctor said, "I spoke to the student and her father. I said she would be provided security on campus. I gave them my phone number and the phone number of the officer-in-charge (OC). We are keeping an eye out for her."
Sanjida Chowdhury is a student of the 2017-18 academic year of the statistics department. The other accused, Tabassum Islam, is a student of the 2020-21 academic year of the finance and banking department. The victim is of the same department. The university administration has formed a five-member inquiry committee to look into the matter.