Teachers, students give 24-hr ultimatum to arrest culprits

Teachers and students of Pabna Edward College in the district town yesterday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to police to arrest the rapists of a female student and warned of tougher movement if the law enforcers fail to nab the culprits.

They came up with the ultimatum at a rally held on the college premises in the morning, said police.

People from all walks of life including journalists, politicians and activists joined the demonstration programme.

The demonstrators also put up barricade on Hamid Road, the main street of the district town, around 11:00am to press for the demand.

Head of history department Dr Md Shajahan, president of Pabna Press Club Shibojit Nag and president of the district unit of BCL Ruhul Amin, among others, spoke.

Addressing the rally, the speakers questioned the role of police as they failed to arrest the rapists within four days of the incident.

The angry students later withdrew the barricade around 12 noon following an assurance by Additional Superintendent of Police Liton Kumar Shah of taking immediate steps to arrest the culprits. 

A 21-year-old Hindu girl, a second year student of history department of Pabna Edward College, was gang-raped on Sunday. She is now undergoing treatment at Pabna Medical College Hospital.

When she was going to attend a religious programme at Punduria village in Santhia upazila of the district on Sunday night, a gang of 4/5 raped her, said the victim at the hospital bed on Tuesday.

The victim's father filed a case, accusing four people, said Officer-in-Charge of Santhia Police Station Nasir Uddin.

The accused include Faridul Islam and Hafizul Islam, residents of the village, the OC said, adding that they went into hiding soon after the incident.

On Tuesday night, police arrested one Md Chand Ali in connection with the incident, he said.