Student’s suicide sparks protest at Jagannath University

Hours after the death of Jagannath University student Fairuz Abantika by suicide, a massive protest broke out and continued till Saturday morning, demanding justice for the student.

Fairuz Abantika, a student of the 2017-18 academic year of Jagannath University (JnU) Law Department, hanged herself at her Cumilla residence after accusing her classmate and the assistant proctor of the university in a Facebook post around 10 pm on Friday, reports UNB.

Amid protests from the students, Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Sadeka Halim came to the campus after 1 am. Initially, the protesting students did not allow the VC to enter the campus. After a while, they let the VC in.

The Vice-Chancellor then assured them that a fair investigation would be conducted as per the laws of the university.

General students under the banner of ‘Jagannath University Against Oppression,  called for a rally on the campus at 3 pm on Saturday, demanding maximum punishment of the accused.

Fairuz’s namaz-e-janaza was scheduled to be held in her hometown Cumilla on Saturday noon.

Meanwhile, the university administration suspended the accused assistant proctor Deen Islam and her classmate, Amman Siddique.

Besides,  the university administration has formed a four-member probe committee with Masum Billah, dean of the Faculty of Law, as the convener and Law Officer Ranjan Kumar Das as the member secretary. The other members of the committee are the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences Abul Hossain and Music Department Chairman Jhumur Ahmed.

In her Facebook post before committing suicide, Fairuz Abantika said that her classmate Amman Siddique and assistant proctor Deen Islam would be responsible for her suicide.

'If I ever die by suicide, my classmate Amman Siddiqui and assistant proctor Deen Islam, who supported him, will be solely responsible for my death. I complained to the Proctor's office that Amman was threatening me offline and also online but I did not get any benefit. Deen Islam scares me in many ways for the sake of Amman. He said that expelling me is very easy for him. I know I won't get any justice here,” she wrote.