HC orders suspension of BCL leader Antara, 4 others for torturing IU student

The High Court (HC) has ordered the suspension of five Islamic University (IU) students for torturing and humiliating a fellow female student.

At the same time, it ordered the removal of Shamsul Alam, the provost of the hall where the incident took place, immediately.

HC bench of justice JBM Hasan and Raziq Al Jalil passed the order on Wednesday.

The students who are to be suspended are – IU unit BCL Vice President Sanjida Chowdhury Antara, Chhatra League activist Tabassum Islam, finance and banking department, Israt Jahan Meem, law department, Halima Khatun Urmi, fine arts department and Moabiya, finance and banking department.

All of them except Antara are students of the 2020-21 academic session and as per HC orders none of them will be allowed to participate in any academic activities or have access to university premises.

As per the court directives, the university administration will take a decision on the case based on investigation reports.

The university authorities have been directed to 'suspend' the five students from all educational activities and keep them off campus until a decision is reached.

However, the students can be summoned for disciplinary proceedings by the university authorities, the court said.

The court also directed authorities concerned to ensure that the victim Fulpori Khatun gets accommodation at her desired hall within the next three days.

Superintendents of Police of Pabna and Kushtia districts have been directed to ensure Fulpori's safety.

IU's vice-chancellor has been directed to ensure the safety of students who testified during the investigation. Also, VCs of all universities have been instructed to implement previous directives by the HC to prevent incidents of ragging, violence and harassment.

The court ordered the VC of IU to submit a report to the court by 8 May by implementing the court order. The High Court has fixed the date for further hearing on the same day.

The orders come a day after the Kushtia DC-led committee submitted its probe findings to the same bench.

According to the probe report, Sanjida ordered everyone to slap Fulpori. One of Sanjida's followers, Lima, snatched Fulpori's mobile phone while others forced her to beg pardon from Sanjida.

Two reports were submitted to the High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil, while Deputy Attorney general Tushar Kanti Roy represented the state. Plaintiff's lawyer Gazi Md Mohsin and his fellow Azgar Hossain Tuhin were also present in the court.

Tushar Kanti Roy informed the court that five accused have already been suspended from the hall. The bench set Wednesday to announce the verdict in the case and called the lawyer of the Islamic University if it has any.

Lawyer Gazi Md Mohsin, also a former Islamic University student, filed the writ petition on behalf of Fulpori with the High Court on 15 February asking for instructions to take legal action against the people involved in the crime.

On 11 February this year, Fulpori Khatun, a residential student of the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall, was subjected to physical torture from 11:30pm to 3:00am. The victim made a complaint about the torture the next day.