Staff Reporter :
The Rajshahi University student, who was kidnapped from the campus allegedly by her former husband on Friday, was rescued from the capital’s Mohammadpur area on Saturday afternoon.
A special team of the Detective Branch of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) rescued the victim, Umme Shahi Ammana Shova, a final year undergraduate student of the Department of Bangla.
The law enforcers also arrested her ex-husband Shohel Rana from the spot, police said.
Iftekhayer Alam, Assistant Commissioner of RMP, said that the victim and the arrestee were on the way to Rajshahi till the filing of the report at 10:00pm.
Proctor of the university Dr Lutfor Rahman, quoting witnesses, said Shova was forced into a microbus by her estranged husband and three of his unidentified accomplices when she came out of dormitory to sit for an exam.
“Shova, who hails from Mahadebpur upazila of Naogaon, got married to Shohel Rana in December last year. But Shova’s father filed for a divorce just two months ago. Sohel might have masterminded the abduction since he was against the separation,” the RU proctor said. Shohel came to meet Shova in front of the student dormitory on Friday morning when she along with her friend was heading towards their examination hall. A heated altercation ensued between the duo as Sohel tried to stop Shova from attending the examination, Dr. Rahman said.
At one stage, Sohel with the help of his aides picked up her in the microbus he was traveling on, said the proctor.
Contacted, Vice Chancellor Professor Abdus Sobhan, “We are trying our best to bring her back her. It’s our responsibility to help her family.” The fourth year Bangla student was abducted by her former husband, Shohel Rana of Naogaon from the university campus around 8:30am on Friday.
The abductor forced her into a microbus in front of Taposhi Rabeya Hall when she came out of her dormitory to appear at the final examination, according to the VC.
According to the family of the student, she got married to Shohel in December last year, but they got divorced two months back. Shova’s father filed an abduction case against Shohel, his father, and four of his family members, said Officer-in-Charge of Motihar Police Station Mehedi Hasan.
He said Shohel’s father has been arrested in Naogaon.
The victim’s father said, “I have talked to my daughter at 7:20 in the morning for the last time. Later, around 8:25am, I got a call from my daughter’s friend, who informed me about her kidnapping.” “Then I informed my relatives in Rajshahi,” he added. Meanwhile, around 4:00pm yesterday, more than 300 students started a demonstration and staged a sit-in in front of the Vice Chancellor’s residence. They gave a two-hour ultimatum to the authorities to bring her back. One of the protestors said, “A student was picked up from an open place like the university. The authorities are responsible for this. It’s their duty to protect us, but they failed.”
