The students of Jagannath University (JnU) are outraged over the death of Fairuz Abantika, a law department student who committed suicide due to sexual harassment.
Seeking justice, they have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the university administration to implement their six-point demands, which include the immediate arrest of the accused assistant proctor Deen Islam and her classmate Raihan Siddique Amman.
The students announced the ultimatum following a protest rally held at the JnU campus on Saturday (16 March).
During the rally, they warned that if their demands are not met within the stipulated 24-hour period, they will besiege the office of the Vice Chancellor on Monday (18 March).
The demands are as follows: swift arrest of the accused, ensuring a fair and impartial investigation, convening an emergency syndicate to address the issue and permanently expelling the accused, ensuring maximum security for the victim's family, university administration should file a case, and implementing a sexual harassment prevention cell.
Notably, Fairuz Abantika committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling of her room in her parents' house in the Bagichagaon area of Cumilla city around 10:00 pm on 15 March. She was pronounced dead by doctors when family members took her to Cumilla Medical College Hospital.
Before her death, Avantika wrote on Facebook that Raihan Siddique Amman, a law department student, had sexually harassed her. When she informed assistant proctor Deen Islam about it, he verbally abused her instead of taking action against Amman.
JnU authorities have temporarily suspended the accused, Deen Islam and Raihan, over the suicidal incident involving Fairuz Abantika.
A 5-member committee has been formed, with the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Dr. S.M. Masum Billah, as the convener and Deputy Registrar of JnU, Himadri Shekhar, as the member secretary.
The committee members include the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr. Md. Shahjahan; the Chairman of the Music Department, Dr. Jhumur Ahmed; and the President of the JnU Teachers’ Association, Professor Zakir Hossain.
