UGC forms committee over rape on JU campus

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate allegations of rape of a woman on the Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus.

UGC Chairman Dr Muhammad Alamgir disclosed the information while speaking at a workshop on Wednesday (7 February).

The committee will investigate the actions taken by the university authorities in response to the rape incident and find out the reasons behind such a heinous occurrence.

The committee members are scheduled to visit the university tomorrow.

Regarding the rape incident in Jahangirnagar University, the UGC chairman said the university authorities have failed to take visible and effective measures against sexual harassment and other misdeeds.

He urged the university authorities to take prompt action against any crime including sexual harassment in higher education institutions of the country.

He also called for taking effective steps to prevent gender discrimination and keeping the university campus safe. 

Earlier on 3 February, Chhatra League leader Mostafizur and outsider Mamunur Rashid allegedly raped a woman near Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall while keeping her husband locked in a room in the dormitory.

The family of the victim filed a case against six people at Ashulia Police Station and police arrested four of them.

The arrestees are Mostafizur Rahman, international affairs secretary of the JU unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL); Sabbir Hasan Sagar, Sagar Siddique, and Hasanuzzaman. 

In an emergency syndicate meeting held on Sunday, the JU authority withheld certificates of six students and suspended three of them.

The university authorities also formed a four-member committee to investigate the incident.