The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has detained a Thikana Paribahan bus driver and his assistant who reportedly threatened to rape a student of Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls College as she wanted to pay half fare.
The detainees are Md Rubel and Mehedi Hasan.
ANM Imran Khan, assistant director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, told Prothom Alo that they were detained on Sunday evening from Siddhirganj upazila in Narayanganj.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of students have blocked the road in Bakshibazar in the capital with the demand of bringing the accused to book as well as passes for half fare in public transport.
The students alleged that the driver's assistant of a Thikana Paribahan bus threatened to rape a second year student of the college in Shanir Akhra area on Saturday.
When the students of Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls College tried to organise a procession on Sunday morning demanding trial of the alleged perpetrator and half-fare passes in public transport, policemen who had taken up position at the college entrance earlier, prevented them.
Later they were forced to open the gates as students from other educational institutions came to join them. Hundreds of students blocked the Bakshibazar intersection and took upposition there around 10:00am.
Movement of transport from Chankharpul to Bakshibazar, and roads towards Bakshibazar, Dhaka education board and BUET remained suspended due to the blockade.
Students customarily pay half fare in public transport for long but many transport companies did not follow this custom. Now almost all public transport has not been following this since the coronavirus pandemic.
The students were chanting slogans “We want justice”, carrying placards declaring “Half fare is our right,” “Harsh reality of the country, you get rape threats for seeking rights”.
Habiba Akhter, a student of Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls College, said they demand trial of the assistant who made the rape threat. At the same time, they demanded the government to fix half-fare passes for the students in public transport, she added.