Female students of a privately run dormitory – Nibedita Chhatri Hostel – on Mostafa road under the Sher-e-Banglanagar police station were in shock after a gang stormed the dorm Tuesday night.
Following the incident, a large team of police officers including female police staff have been deployed in front of the dormitory.
Witnesses said a gang of about 30 attacked the dormitory at around 12:30am and attacked the female boarders who had been protesting against the dorm owner for the hikes in rent and meal charges.
The hostel accommodates about 400 female students of different educational institutions.
Some of the victims alleged that the dormitory owner Mostafizur Rahman hired the gang. The thugs went on a three-hour rampage throughout the building and assaulted the girls.
One of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous, said on the eve of Eid ul-Fitr, the owner, without consulting the boarders, raised the rent by at least Tk500 for each occupant and increased the meal charges.
“Alongside the hikes in room rent, basic amenities like the smooth supply of water, electricity and gas have been curbed,” she said.
She said: “When we protested the sudden hikes and asked for cancelling the decision, the dormitory owner threatened us with action.”
Speaking to our reporters, several students said they were very fearful that their attackers might attack them again, at or away from their student house.
“The students had a sleepless night filled with panic,” said a security guard in the area.
He said even girls’ cries had left the residents in the area terrified.
However, normalcy returned to the area when the police and the media arrived the scene and rescued the female students, said the security guard.
Deputy Commissioner Biplab Sarker of the Tejgaon Division of Police denied allegations of any attack on the students.
“It is not so easy to assault a female student in the dormitory,” he said, adding that the situation had normalised after the police had arrived.
The deputy commissioner, however, admitted to the presence of hired cadres in the dormitory.
He said no one had filed any case in connection with the incident and that the police had made no arrest so far.