'We have failed as guardians'
Police recovered the body of Buet student Abrar on the wee hours of Monday from a staircase of Sher-e-Bangla Hall
Teachers of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) said they cannot shrug off their responsibility for Abrar Fahad's death.
"We have failed as guardians. Everyone – the teachers and the authority — have failed to serve their duties," Buet teacher Professor AKM Masud said in a choked voice while addressing the sit-in of Buet students on the campus on Tuesday.
Masud, also the president of Buet Teachers Association, expressed solidarity with the ongoing protests.
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Police recovered the body of Buet student Abrar on the wee hours of Monday from a staircase of Sher-e-Bangla Hall.
Citing students, police said Buet Chhatra League activists took the sophomore from his room on Sunday evening.
They tortured Abrar during interrogation over a Facebook post and later dumped him on the staircase with fatal injuries.
Abrar's body had lots of intensive bruises and he died of internal bleeding and pain, says the autopsy report.
Consequently, police nabbed 10 Buet students who allegedly beat Abrar to death for his Facebook post criticising Bangladesh-India water-sharing deal.
Mourning the death of their fellow, a group of students on Tuesday took position on Buet Shaheed Minar premises. The teachers joined the students there.
Masud said: "One of our students was mercilessly beaten to death. Many of us have offspring as young as Abrar. His death is hurting us so much as if we have lost one of our children."
He also commented that Buet authorities had failed to take action over ragging issues, and Abrar's death has brought the failure in the spotlight.
"Ragging is not new in Buet. Many students were harassed and tortured in the past. The authorities cannot keep mum anymore," he said.
"The university authorities are responsible for ensuring students' safety and security. The death has proved to be a total failure of them," said Masud.
In the meantime, General Secretary of the teachers' platform Professor Mohammed Mostafa Ali demanded capital punishment of Abrar's killers.
Mostafa also said that they will announce fresh programmes on Wednesday morning.
