Killing of Bangladesh student triggers campus protests in the country

There have been campus-wide protests in Bangladesh after an undergraduate was beaten to death at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), one of the country’s top universities.

The body of Abrar Fahed, a 21-year-old engineering student, was found dead at his university halls of residence in Dhaka on Sunday 6 October.

The next day, students in Dhaka staged street protests, chanting slogans and blocking roads. There were also protests at the universities of Chittagong and Rajshahi.

On Tuesday 8 October, students at Buet demanded the death penalty for those found guilty of the killing.
AKM Masud, president of the Buet Teachers’ Association, said: “This is totally unacceptable that a student will die from torture in a residential hall.

“Abrar Fahad’s death has proved the authorities’ complete failure to ensure the safety of students.”

A student at the university, who wished to be anonymous, said that the humiliation and beatings of students had been repeatedly ignored by Buet’s leadership.

They said: “The ragging has always been a massive problem. But they never took any serious action. And this was a result of their negligence.

“The perpetrators never thought they’d face any consequences. It’s a shame that someone has to get killed to bring the issue under spotlight.”

Abrar Fahad’s death has proved the authorities’ complete failure to ensure the safety of students

– President of the Buet Teachers’ Association

Fahad was allegedly targeted after he criticised the government in a Facebook post.

It is claimed that he was attacked by students linked to the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), an influential student wing of prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.

According to an autopsy report, Fahad died of severe internal bleeding from beatings with blunt objects.

17 members of the League had been detained in connection with the death, and two have confessed to their involvement in the crime.

Addressing a press conference on her recent US and India tour, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the murder was not linked to student politics, and said that no-one would be spared because of their political affiliations.

The Prime Minister added: “Killers will get the highest punishment.”

The BCL has been condemned by human rights groups, who have accused it of beating student protesters and stifling debate.

Last year, university and school students who had launched a protest calling for greater road safety were beaten with sticks and machetes, an attack widely blamed on the Awami League and its youth wing.

Authorities took no action against those carrying out the violence, and arrested the protesting students.