Fulpori Khatun, the first-year student at Islamic University who was tortured and humiliated by five now-expelled Chhatra League members, said her tormentors revelled in making her suffer for four and a half hours.
A student of finance and banking at the university's Deshratno Sheikh Hasina Hall, Fulpori recently narrated details of the horrific incident to Dhaka Tribune.
What happened that night?
At 11pm on February 12, Sanjida Chowdhury Ontora called Fulpori from room 306 and brought her to the common room, slapped her along with her cohorts, punched her in the head, face, and hit her hard with her hands on her chest.
“They tortured me a lot. They also pricked my foot with a pin.”
At one stage, the tormentors said: “Now see what ragging is!”
Fulpori quoted her assaulters as saying that: “We are worse than boys.”
Fulpori also said: “I fell at their feet to spare me; they asked why do you hold our feet?”
The torturers were saying to her: “Do you know us, who are we? Who will save you now? Do you have any sirs? Just two days ago, you started to disrespect us.”
They tortured Fulpori from 11pm to 3:30am, she claimed.
“They also recorded me, forcing me to speak against the provost in foul language,” said Fulpori.
The attackers also forced her to hurl abuses and recorded them. They filmed her after forcing her to be naked, said the victim.
She said they tried to strangle her with a towel as well.
“They held the pin in front of my eyes and said they will gouge out my eyes with it.”
“More girls like me suffer like this, but cannot speak up,” she added.
“I want justice.”
What is in the written complaint?
In the written complaint, Fulpori said: “As the orientation class started on February 8, I started to stay as a guest in room 306 of Deshratno Sheikh Hasina Hall on February 7 with a familiar apu (sister). With due respect to everyone, I started to live in the room temporarily.”
“Then on February 11 and 12, when I went to the hall in two phases, at least seven-eight unnamed people, led by Sanjida Chowdhury Ontora, vice president of the university unit of Chhatra League, along with Tabassum, a student of the finance and banking department, tortured me physically and mentally in the name of ragging. They forced me to be naked and they filmed it,” according to the written complaint.
“They even threatened to kill me,” says the complaint.
Who is Fulpori?
Fulpori is a resident of Dharmapur village of Atghoria upazila of Pabna. Her family's only asset is a house on a 23-decimal plot of land in the village. Fulpori and her family live in a three-room house made of jute straw and a tin fence.
She is the third of four siblings. Her father is a rickshaw-van puller, and her mother is a housewife.
All her brothers and sisters are studying on scholarships.
Her elder brother, Md Hazrat Ali, completed his education at the Department of Economics of Rajshahi University. Her elder sister, Hosne Ara Khatun, passed from Pabna Women's College and is currently studying at Dhaka University, while her younger brother, Omar Ali, is a tenth-grader.
After passing from Pabna Government Edward College, without any admission coaching, Fulpori got an opportunity to study at Rajshahi University and Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, but with great hope, she enrolled at the finance and banking Department of Kushtia Islamic University in the 2021-22 session.
The High Court yesterday ordered the university authorities to expel five of its female students and relieve Deshratno Sheikh Hasina Hall Provost Shamsul Alam, the house tutor and several others of their duties.
The five students are IU Chhatra League Vice President Sanjida Chowdhury Ontora of the statistics department, and activists Tabassum Islam of the finance and banking department, Israt Zahan Meem of the law department, Halima Khatun Urmi of the fine arts department and Moabiya of the finance and banking department.
The High Court issued the order following a probe report submitted by a judicial inquiry committee formed in this regard.
