At least 12 persons involved in Pohela Boishakh sexual assault on women on Dhaka University campus were identified but “they are not DU students”, said police.
One month into the Pohela Boishakh sexual assault on women on Dhaka University campus, that shocked the collective conscience of the nation, police are yet to arrest the molesters.
“After analysis of the video footage we have identified 12 wrongdoers but none of their identity could be ascertained yet,” said Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Monirul, who is also the chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, the agency investigating the sexual assault case, said: “We will definitely bring the miscreants to book.”
The offenders are not the students of DU; they are all outsiders, he said.
At least 20 women were reported to have been sexually assaulted while returning home after celebrating Pohela Boishakh on the DU campus.
The sexual harassment of women continued there even though police personnel were on duty nearby. Some of the offenders were handed over to police but they were later released.
Initially police denied their negligence while on duty on the campus.
Just a day earlier, chief of Bangladesh Police AKM Shahidul Haque rather shifted the blame to the crowd gathered there to celebrate the Bangla new year.
Shahidul wondered: “There were thousands of people in the celebration and how could some four to five youths do this? What did all those people do?”
Meanwhile, the police probe committee formed to look into the police role during the incident finally found three policemen responsible for neglecting their duties.
Committee Member Secretary and DB Police Deputy Commissioner Jahangir Hossain Matubbor submitted the report to the Commissioner of the DMP Asaduzzaman Miah on May 7, said a source in the DMP.
The officials found DMP Assistant Commissioner Sahedur Rahman, Inspector of Sahabagh police station Saidul Haque Bhuya and Sub-Inspector of the police station Ashraf responsible.
The report says AC Sahedur who was on duty in the Teachers Student Centers area on that day could not fathom out the importance of the incident.
While SI Ashraf and Inspector Saidul released two assaulters without discussing it with their higher authorities even after a mob handed the molesters over to them, the report said.
