'Nothing' found in footage

With identities of the sexual offenders in Tuesday's incident on the Dhaka University campus still unknown, everyone was looking to the CCTV footage gathered from the scene for some clues about the perpetrators.

However, after scrutinising an hour-long CCTV footage recorded between 6:00pm and 7:00pm on the day -- the time when the assault happened -- Prof Amzad Ali, acting proctor of DU, said he did not find anything relating to the assault during Pahela Baishakh celebrations.

Amzad said the footage in places suggests an aggressive person, around 30, is moving towards some men and women on the road between Suhrawardy gate and Razu Sculpture.

“It was not clear whether he was assaulting people,” he said.

Abdul Baten, deputy commissioner (Ramna division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police too scrutinised the CCTV footage but could not find any incident of assault.

Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday directed the inspector general of police and the DU vice chancellor to investigate the incident and submit separate reports by May 17.

Issuing a suo moto rule, the HC asked the authorities concerned to mention in the reports what steps have been taken against the offenders, Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas told The Daily Star.

Nineteen CCTV cameras were installed in the area as part of the security measures taken by Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Baten said the footage shows that a group of youths playing vuvuzela were rushing through people near the Suhrawardy Udyan gate.

“We are not clear about any incident of sexual assault but it is true that an incident happened,” he said, adding that he visited the spot and talked with people who were present there during the incident.

However, DMP Commissioner Mohammad Asaduzzaman Miah on Wednesday dismissed any incident of sexual assault on the DU campus Tuesday evening.

According to eye witnesses, some 30 to 40 youths sexually assaulted around 20 women for about an hour at the Suhrawardy Udyan gate near TSC.

They alleged law enforcers played the role of bystanders even though they were stationed within 20 yards from the spot.

During the incident, at least five offenders were caught by activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Union who came forward to rescue the women.

Tuhin Kanti Das, an activist of Chhatra Union, said he and his fellow activists handed five offenders to SI Ashraful of Shahbagh Police Station.

When they had gone to the station two hours later, they were told that two of the offenders had been released as they were students of DU. Officials at the station refused to explain what happened to the rest, Tuhin claimed.

In answer to a query about Ashraf's role in releasing the offenders, Baten said the SI had denied having detained anyone.

Contacted, SI Ashraf said no one had turned in any offender.

Chhatra Union president Liton Nandi said masterminds of the assault must be connected to people with political influence.

THE HC RULE

In the rule, the HC asked the government and the DU authorities to explain in four weeks as to why they should not be directed to take appropriate legal steps against the perpetrators.

The home secretary, the IGP, the DU VC, the DMP commissioner, the deputy commissioner (Ramna division) of DMP and the officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station have been made respondents to the rule.

The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman fixed May 17 for passing further order on this issue, DAG Tapash said.

The bench came up with the order and the rule following reports published yesterday in four national dailies -- The Daily Star, the Prothom Alo, the Jugantor and the Amader Shomoy -- over the incidents.     

CASE FILED

Shahbagh police on Wednesday night sued unknown miscreants over allegations of the incident.

In the first information report, Abul Kalam Azad, sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station, claimed to have learned about the incident from a number of eye witnesses including Chhatra Union leaders Liton Nandi, Amit Dey and Tuhin Kanti Das, and also from the DU acting proctor Prof Amzad.

Quoting the sources, the FIR stated some rowdy youths sexually assaulted women from a crowd of several thousand people.

According to the FIR, police rushed to the scene immediately but found nothing at all to establish the matter. They could not identify any victim; nor did they receive any complaint from anyone regarding the assault.

Nonetheless, after consulting higher officials, the matter was deemed an offence punishable under the women and children prevention act 2000, which led them to file the case, the FIR said.  

DU SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMMITTEE

The DU committee to Prevent Sexual Harassment yesterday asked eyewitnesses to provide documentary evidence of the assault on the DU campus Tuesday evening.

“The Dhaka University Committee to Prevent Sexual Harassment launched a probe into the incident of sexual harassment that took place at the Suhrawardy Udyan gate near the TSC on Pahela Baishakh,” says a press release.

For the interest of the probe, eyewitnesses were requested to provide the committee convenor Pro-vice Chancellor Dr Nasrin Ahmad's office with documentary evidences in writing by April 23.