Six former students of the University of Dhaka (DU), including a woman, have alleged that they were harassed while going to watch a FIFA World Cup football match at the field of Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall. They claimed that Hall Student Union's Social Service Secretary Saju Mia was involved in the incident.
Protesting the alleged harassment, a group of female students of the university watched the Argentina-Jordan World Cup match at the same hall field on Sunday morning.
Earlier on Friday night, the six former students alleged that they were forced to leave the hall premises while they went there to watch the Norway-France match. The victims later submitted a written complaint to the university proctor's office. The university administration has assigned an assistant proctor to investigate the allegation.
One of the complainants, former student Muhtasin Billah Emon, said they went to Shahidullah Hall on Friday night to watch the match after registering their names at the hall entrance. Despite entering through the proper procedure, he claimed that some hall residents surrounded them and pressured them to leave the field.
However, Saju Mia denied the allegations. He said they had politely asked the group to leave because a woman was present at the field of a residential boys' hall late at night. He claimed that no one was harassed and that he did not speak to the woman.
Following the incident, the former students filed a written complaint with the proctor's office on Saturday. The hall unit of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) also submitted a memorandum to the hall provost over the matter. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Student Unity condemned the incident through a statement.
DU Proctor Professor Israfil Ratan said an assistant proctor had been assigned to investigate the matter after receiving the complaint. Necessary action would be taken after reviewing the investigation report.
Meanwhile, female students watched the Argentina-Jordan match at Shahidullah Hall field on Sunday morning as a protest.
Shahidullah Hall Provost Professor Md Aminul Islam Bhuiyan said the hall students' union has no authority to remove former students from the hall premises. He said such decisions fall under the responsibility of the hall administration.