Staff Reporter :
The Progressive Students’ Alliance and Anti-Imperialist Students’ Union on Thursday threatened to call a half-day countrywide hartal on April 25 if the government fails to arrest the killers of Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu by April 24. They came up with the threat at a rally in front of Shikkha Bhaban in the city after police obstructed their procession heading towards Home Ministry to lay a siege to it. The agitating students called upon the leaders and workers of all political parties to extend their support in favour of April 25 hartal and make it a success.
They also urged transport workers and leaders to make their hartal programme a success. Earlier as per their scheduled programme, leaders and activists of the two left-leaning student bodies and general students took out a procession from Madhu’s Canteen at Dhaka University around 12noon in a bid to besiege the Home Ministry to press home their demand for arresting the Tonu’s killers. When the students in a procession reached near Doyel Chattar at Curzon Hall, police intercepted them. On April 3, the two left-leaning student bodies announced to lay a siege to the Home Ministry on Thursday.
Being police intercepted the activists of Progressive Students’ Alliance and Anti-Imperialist Students’ Union held a protest rally in front of Shikkha Bhaban. “Some 17 students were injured when police chased the students,” Progressive Students’ Alliance and Anti-Imperialist Students’ Union coordinator Ashraful Alam Sohel told the journalists. The injured students received first aid from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The latest outcry, in social media platforms, has been a denounce of the first forensic report that said doctors did not find any evidence of rape in Tonu’s body. “We’re giving the government until April 24 to arrest those involved in Tonu murder and bring them to justice. If the government fails to do so, a half-day hartal from 6:00am to 12:00 noon will be enforced on May 25,” Ashraf told the rally.
Sohagi Jahan Tonu, 19, a second year history student of Comilla Victoria College and a member of Victoria College Theatre, went missing on March 20, hours after she had gone out of her house at Comilla Mainamati Cantonment for private tuition.
Later, Tonu’s father Yaar Hossain found his daughter lying senseless with severe injuries in her body in a bush adjacent to their house. The incident sparked off widespread protests across the country.
