Students Protest Over Unarrested Jahangirnagar University Assault Suspect

A group of students at Jahangirnagar University have staged a protest march to voice their anger over the failure of law enforcement agencies to arrest a suspect accused of attempting to rape and murder a female student. The demonstration took place exactly 40 days after the incident occurred on the university campus, with protestors demanding immediate accountability and systemic security reforms from the relevant authorities.

Details of the Demonstration and Student Grievances

The protest march was organised under the banner of the ‘Nari Nirapatta Mancha’ (Women’s Security Platform) on Monday afternoon at approximately 4:00 pm. The procession commenced from Murad Chattar, located adjacent to the university’s New Arts Building. After traversing several arterial roads across the campus, the march concluded in front of the New Administrative Building, where the participating students gathered for a brief rally to present their statements.

During the rally, student speakers expressed deep frustration regarding the prolonged delay in apprehending the perpetrator. They pointed out that despite the joint involvement of various state forces—including the Police, the Army, and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)—no tangible result has been achieved after more than a month of operational efforts. The students asserted that this ongoing failure reflects poorly on both the university administration and the state security forces, who are fundamentally tasked with ensuring public safety.

Statements from Student Representatives

Lamisha Zaman, a student from the Department of History, addressed the gathering and highlighted the historical context of the agitation. She stated that approximately 5,000 students had initially launched a mass movement following the assault. The student body submitted a list of six specific demands to the university administration, the foremost of which was the immediate arrest of the attacker. She noted that 40 days had elapsed, during which an Eid festival had also passed, yet the administration had failed to implement a single demand effectively.

Sohagi Samia, an organiser of the Socialist Students’ Front university unit, also spoke at the rally, drawing attention to a broader pattern of insecurity on campus. She observed that multiple incidents of harassment and oppression had occurred consecutively while the current anti-rape protests were still active. Samia argued that whilst the direct arrest of the suspect falls within the jurisdiction of law enforcement bodies, the responsibility to strengthen overall campus safety rests entirely with the university authorities.

Furthermore, Samia remarked that numerous incidents of violence against women had occurred on the campus over the last two and a half years, none of which had been successfully resolved by the university administration. She claimed that the current fragile state of security is the direct consequence of long-term administrative negligence. Addressing the authorities, she affirmed that the demonstration would persist, regardless of the number of active participants on the streets, until all demands are fully realised.

Background of the Assault Incident

The initial incident occurred on 12 May at approximately 11:00 pm. A female student of Jahangirnagar University was forcibly dragged into the darkness from a road adjacent to the abandoned Fazilatunnesa Hall, where the assailant attempted to rape and murder her.

Following the attack, the university administration reviewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage recorded on the night of the incident, which enabled them to identify the suspect as an external youth. Based on this visual evidence, the university administration officially lodged a criminal case against the identified outsider at the local Ashulia Police Station. Despite this formal identification, the suspect remains at large.