Several groomsmen who were assaulted by a group of students on a moving train in Rajshahi on Friday morning have returned home without filing a case.
Despite the severity of the attack, the victims cited fear of further violence as their reason for not pursuing legal action.
"We would have to go to court if we filed a case, and we fear being beaten again as soon as we leave the courtroom," said the brother of one of the injured, Ariful Islam.
One of the attackers, a minor, was detained by a mob and handed over to the Rajshahi Government Railway Police (GRP).
However, neither the victims nor their relatives came forward to file a complaint, despite multiple attempts by the police to contact them.
Rajshahi GRP police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Gopal Karmakar told Prothom Alo on Friday evening that the victims had declined to file a case. The police asked the family members of the detained minor to locate the victims, so they could at least submit a written statement indicating they had no complaint. Eventually, one of the injured came to the station around 5:30pm and wrote that they had no complaints and did not wish to press charges. The juvenile attacker was then released into the custody of his father.
When Ariful Islam was contacted for comment, his elder brother answered and expressed frustration. "We are afraid of further beatings. If we file a case, we would have to go to court, and we will be attacked again," he said.
The incident occurred on Friday morning when the groomsmen boarded the train at Arani station, en route to Kankan Hat in Godagari. The detained attacker, a 17-year-old student from Asami Colony Boubazar in Rajshahi, admitted that he and his friends had gone to Natore's Abdulpur station for breakfast and got into a dispute with the groomsmen on the return journey.
The attack continued after the train reached Rajshahi station, leaving Ariful Islam with a broken hand. He is currently undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, while another victim, Litol Sarkar, received treatment at a local hospital before returning home.
The two elder brothers involved in the attack have been identified as Mainul, 26, and Monir, 24, with the other attackers being students of various schools.
