Two students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust) in Sylhet have been arrested on charges of gang-raping a female classmate and recording the incident on video.
One was apprehended from the campus and the other from the Surma residential area during a raid on Thursday night.
The survivor filed a case at Kotwali police station on Friday.
The arrestees have been identified as Shanto Tara Adnan and Swagoto Das Partho, both third-year students (2021–22 session) of the Department of Sociology.
According to sources, prior to Eid, the survivor was lured into a trap by Shanto and Swagoto before heading to a concert at Rikabibazar.
They then drugged her and took her to a mess in the Surma residential area, where she was subjected to overnight sexual assault and filmed, as per the sources.
The next morning, upon regaining consciousness, the student found herself in a distressing state in the accused’s room. The two informed her that she had been raped and that the incident had been recorded on video and in photos.
They later used this footage to regularly blackmail her.
Eventually, the survivor confided in a classmate, which led to wider awareness among others.
With the help of the proctorial body and the police, the accused were detained and brought to the proctor’s office, and later handed over to police custody.
Among the accused, Shanto was an active member of the now-banned student wing of the ruling party, the Chhatra League.
He was also an accused in a case involving attacks on students during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and faced several other allegations including harassment of general students and creating unrest on campus.
Swagoto, on the other hand, is the treasurer of the university’s drama organization, Dik Theatre.
Sust Acting Vice-Chancellor Ismail Hossain said: “We received a complaint about the incident, and within two hours of receiving it, the accused were located using digital tracking and brought to the proctor’s office.”
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kotwali police station, Md Ziaul Haque, said: “During interrogation, we found preliminary evidence of the incident. Further legal actions will be taken with the support of the university authorities.”
