Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Saturday said six people are directly involved in the recent sexual assault of a Chittagong University (CU) student.
Among them, three are students of CU and the rest are locals, RAB-7 Captain Lt Col MA Yusuf told media at around 11am on Saturday.
“We have already arrested four people on Friday night,” he added.
The arrestees were identified as Azim, 23, a second year history department student of CU, Nur Hossain Shaon, 22, and Masud Rana, 22, students of Hathazari Government College, and Nurul Absar Babu, 23
Dhaka TribuneThey are all associated with Bangladesh Chhatra League. Two other perpetrators involved in the sexual assault are currently on the run. Both their names are Saiful, the RAB captain added.
MA Yusuf also noted: “Azim, the main accused of the case was apprehended on Friday. His instructions were followed throughout the entire incident. We learned the names of the rest after he was arrested.”
"They attempted to record video of the assault on three different mobile phones. Two of them belonged to the woman and her friend. Azim Hossain, the incident's mastermind, owned the other one,” he added.
The RAB captain also said: “We learned from the arrestees that the girl was returning to CU hall with one of her friends at around 10-10:30pm that night.
Meanwhile, Azim and his friends rode motorcycles belonging to Saiful and Shaon.
They first assaulted the CU female student, and later demanded money from her friend.
The six accused also harassed them by asking why they were out so late at night and snatched their phones. At that point, a fight took place between the two parties.
Following the fight, they kidnapped the CU student and abused her by tearing her clothes apart. They also tried to record videos.
RAB officer said that the incident was not planned, and they did not find any political connection here.
“Azim, the incident's leader, stated clearly that the incident occurred unintentionally. They did not plan to harass the girl beforehand. Even the girl admitted she had never met Azim before.”
Earlier on July 17, a student and her companion were sexually assaulted in the Botanical Garden area on their way back to the CU’s hall from the campus’s Hotashar intersection area at night.
In response to the incident, several student organizations and general students organized protests and formed human chains for several issues, including security on the campus.
Amid the furore, students staged demonstrations – first before different dorms of the university and then before the VC’s residence – from 9pm on Wednesday till 1am on Thursday, pressing their demand for justice to be ensured over the sexual assault.
