A group of people protest at Shahbagh police station, demand release of harassment accused

A group of people gathered at Shahbagh police station in the capital on Wednesday night, demanding the release of a man arrested on charges of harassing a student on Dhaka University campus.

They remained in front of the police station until 9:00 am today, Thursday, according to Shahbagh police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Khalid Mansur.

Shahbagh police arrested Mustafa Asif, Arnab, an assistant binder at the university’s central library, on Wednesday evening on charges of harassing a female student.

The victim first reported the incident to the Dhaka University proctor’s office before filing a formal complaint at Shahbagh police station.

Following Asif’s arrest, a group of people arrived at the police station after midnight, demanding his release.

OC Khalid Mansur told Prothom Alo at 9:00 am today that they had been there since the previous night and were still present. He stated that the police were in the process of sending Asif to court.

The student detailed her experience in a Facebook post, saying she was harassed on her way from Shahbagh to campus. She wrote, “This man harassed me on my way from Shahbagh today.

He suddenly stopped me on the road and started saying, ‘My dress is not right, I am not wearing a veil and so on.’ His behaviour was very aggressive. Later, I asked him which dormitory he lived in and which department he studied in. He said he was not from this campus.”

Dhaka University Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed confirmed to Prothom Alo that the accused harassed the student over her clothing. The student first shared her experience on social media before filing a complaint with the proctor’s office.

Later in the afternoon, students identified Asif and brought him to the proctor’s office, where he admitted to harassing the student. He was then handed over to Shahbagh Police Station, and the university library was informed of the incident.