Sylhet MC College students stage a demonstration in front of the college on Saturday protesting the rape of a woman at the dormitory of the college on Friday night. PHOTO: OBSERVER
Sylhet, Sept 26: A case has been filed against nine persons for their involvement in gang rape of a woman by confining and tying up her husband in the hostel of MC College in Sylhet. Of the accused, six belong to Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League. The accused BCL men are M Saifur Rahman, Shah Mahbubur Rahman Rana, Tarique Ahmed, Arjun Laskar, Rabiul Islam and Mahfuzur Rahman. Of them, Tarique and Rabiul are outsiders while the rest are students of MC College. The husband of the rape victim filed the case mentioning the names of six persons and three other unidentified persons. The Sylhet Murari Chand (MC) College administration has asked students to vacate the dormitories by noon on Saturday.
Students of the college on Saturday staged demonstrations blocking the main road of the college in protest against a 'gang-rape' that took place in the college hostel on Friday night. Over a hundred students of the reputed educational institution blocked the road around 12:30pm, demanding immediate arrest of the rapists. Additional police have been deployed on the campus to fend off further trouble. The protesters alleged that the college authorities have kept the hostel, all nine blocks of the students living accommodation, open when all the educational institutions across the country remained closed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. About the incident, Principal Saleh Ahmed said, "Action will be taken against the students responsible for the rape. Their studentship will be revoked." Asked why the college hostel was kept open when all other educational institutions across the country are closed, the Principal said, "It has been kept open for the poor and meritorious students as they're involved in small jobs and private tuitions in the city." A three-member probe committee has been formed with Prof Anwar Hossain Chowdhury, a teacher of Mathematics, as the convener, said Principal Saleh Ahmed. The committee has been formed at an emergency meeting of the academic council. On Friday, a newly-married 19-year-old girl has been allegedly raped by a group of Chhatra League activists at MC College student hostel in Sylhet. The incident took place after the couple went to visit the college at Tilagarh around 9:30pm, police said on Saturday. The case was filed with Shahparan Police Station in the Sylhet City on Friday night. Quoting the case statement, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the police station Abdul Qayyum said six persons were made accused as they were directly involved in the gang rape, while the rest three assisted them. Police raided the dormitory after the incident and recovered a gun, four machetes, a knife and two crude arms from Saifur's room, said OC Abdul Qayyum. The law enforcers launched an operation to apprehend the accused, according to the police.
from top left: The six of nine accused of raping a woman at the dormitory of MC College in Sylhet are Rabiul Islam, Tarekul Islam, Shah Mahbubur Rahman Roni, Saifur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Masum, and Arjun Lasker. photo : Observer
The accused of the sensational rape case are MC College Chhatra League leader M Saifur Rahman, Master's student of the Department of English Shah Md Mahbubur Rahman Rony, Tareque Ahmed, Arjun Laskar, Rabiul Islam and Mahfuzur Rahman Masum. The accused Tareque and Rabiul are the outsiders, while the rest four are the MC College students. On condition of anonymity, MC College sources said all the accused are the active members of MC College unit of Chhatra League, based at Tilagarh in the city. They get patronage of an Awami Jubo League leader who is an inhabitant of Sylhet upazila sadar. During the coronavirus pandemic, the accused used to hold drinking and gambling parties at MC College hostel. The husband and wife went to visit the college campus in Tilagarh in Sylhet city in their private car, which was intercepted by a group of youths around 8:00pm on Friday. They forcefully took them to the hostel, tied the husband and raped the wife, OC Abdul Qayyum said citing the case statement. On information, police rushed to the hostel, rescued the victim and sent her to the One-Stop Crisis Centre of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital at midnight. There are allegations that some local AL leaders tried to settle the matter soon after the incident, which delayed the rescue of the victim and gave ample scope for the accused to run away.
