Students of Islamic University in Kushtia staged a demonstration on Saturday, demanding a fair investigation and justice for their fellow student whose body was found floating in a pond on the campus.
Over one thousand students from various departments gathered in front of the university鈥檚 administrative building around 10:30am, and at one stage of their demonstration, they locked the building鈥檚 collapsible gate, cut off the electricity supply, while chanting slogans pressing for justice for their fellow.
The deceased, Sajid Abdullah, was a student of the Al-Quran and Islamic Studies department. His body was recovered from the pond on Thursday.
Condemning the university administration for lax handling of their fellow鈥檚 death, they raise several demands: full lighting across the campus, installing CCTV cameras at all key locations, increased administrative vigilance and emergency response, controlling outsiders鈥� entry, and building of boundary walls on the campus.
Demonstrators asked why the administration took nearly an hour to recover the body from the pond after they had been informed. They also criticised the delay in the arrival of the police although a police station was there on the campus. Also no doctors or ambulances arrived for over half an hour after the body was found, they said.
The students also castigated the proctor, students鈥� adviser and hall provost for delaying two hours to arrive at the scene after the body was found.
They said that if the university did not have the budget to buy security cameras the students would contribute to the fund.
Various student organisations, including the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir, Chhatra Union, and other social and cultural groups joined the demonstration.
Some students said they would boycott classes and exams until the cause of Sajid鈥檚 death was uncovered.
Earlier on the day, at around 11:30am namaz-e-janaza for Sajid Abdullah was held at the university football ground.
Sajid鈥檚 body was recovered from a pond near Shah Azizur Rahman Hall on July 17 at around 5:30pm by the university鈥檚 security officers and local police.
Sajid, a first-year student in the Al-Quran and Islamic studies department, resided in Room 109 of Shahid Ziaur Rahman Hall. He was from Ghatail upazila in Tangail.
Responding to the incident, the university authorities and Shahid Ziaur Rahman Hall administration have formed separate committees to investigate the matter.