Two women have been allegedly tied to an electric pole and publicly tortured by some individuals in Rajshahi’s Assam Colony area.
The incident took place on Wednesday morning.
The victims were named Aklima Khatun Shapla and Sharmin Akter.
The attackers fled when the army arrived after receiving reports of the incident.
Aklima's husband, Rafiqul Islam, filed a case against Assam Colony residents Shahin, his wife Sahida Begum, their daughter Sneha, and one Mukta at Chandrima police station on Friday night. Several unnamed individuals, who identified themselves as students during the attack, were also named in the case.
Sharmin, another victim, is the wife of Rafiqul's brother, Mizanur Rahman. She reported that the conflict began early Friday morning over noise pollution from Shahin's auto-rickshaw garage.
Following the argument, several individuals claiming to be students attacked their home, and asked them to come outside and said: "We are in power now. If you do not open the door within a minute, we will break it down."
Fearing for their safety, Sharmin asked her sister-in-law to call for help, but the attackers boasted: "We have even dethroned Sheikh Hasina; who will your sister-in-law call?"
They then broke down the door, dragged the two women out, tied them to the electric pole, and began beating them with sticks. During this, Sneha slapped Sharmin. The assault was recorded to be shared on the internet.
Locals said that the attackers, dressed in green vests similar to traffic police, were not allowed to file a complaint initially under the pretext of resolving the issue amicably. When no resolution was reached, the complaint was filed on Friday night.
Neighbour Sonia Khatun also became a victim while trying to help Aklima and Sharmin.
The victims' landlord, Swapon Hasan, mentioned that both Aklima and Sharmin's families had intended to file a complaint but were delayed by calls from two Rajshahi University students who asked for time until Wednesday evening to resolve the issue.
However, by evening, they clarified that none of the perpetrators were associated with the student movement at Rajshahi University and advised the victims' families that they could take legal action.
The central coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement in Rajshahi, Rajshahi University student Golam Kibriya Mohammad Meshkat Chowdhury, said that none of their coordinators or any committee members were involved in the incident or had visited Assam Colony.
He emphasized that those posing as students were impostors.
Chandrima police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ismail Hossain said that the identities of the accused students are unknown; thus, they were listed as unidentified in the complaint. Efforts are underway to identify those involved in the incident.
