RU fresher forced to call mother ‘one last time' in ragging incident

A first-year student from Rajshahi University has lodged a formal complaint last night against two senior students for subjecting him to a disturbing act of ragging in his hostel at Lebubagan, Binodpur.

According to the victim Mohammad Rocky's complaint, the seniors pressured him to call his mother, telling him it would be the last time they spoke. He was then asked to seek forgiveness, reports our RU correspondent.

The accused are Nazmul Hossain Nabil, from the university's marketing department (session 2022-23), and Antor Biswas, from the same department (session 2019-20).

Rocky, who is a student of the philosophy department (session 2023-24), claimed that the two seniors entered his room and began asking him uncomfortable and embarrassing questions. The situation escalated when the accused asked Rocky to go the university guestroom.

"We'll escort you to the guestroom in the hall," they said, then added, "Call your mother one last time. Tell her it's the final time you'll be speaking, and if you've made any mistakes, ask for her forgiveness."

Referencing the death of Abrar Fahad, they asked Rocky, "Do you know how Abrar Fahad was killed?" The victim responded, "Yes, he was beaten to death." The accused then said, "What would you do if we killed you the same way?"

The accused threatened Rocky with violence and pressured him to go to the hall's guestroom, eventually threatening to call the Chhatra Shibir and kill him if he refused.

After the incident, Rocky submitted a complaint to the university's proctor. In response, both the victim and the accused were summoned to the proctor's office, where two assistant proctors, Professors Rafiqul Islam and Nasir Uddin, along with Professor Mashihur Rahman from the Department of Marketing, were present.

Accused Nazmul Hossain Nabil admitted to being present but denied participating in the harassment, while Antor Biswas claimed his conversation with Rocky was casual and meant to build good relationships.

When asked about Abrar Fahad part, Antor replied that he told Rocky that ragging does not take place like it used to be in campuses. Abrar Fahad was used as an example, he said.

He also denied the Chhatra Shibir threat, calling it false.

RU Proctor Mahbubur Rahman expressed deep concern over the incident, especially as it occurred just after the new academic session had begun.

"As a teacher, we cannot support these issues in any way. We will try to ensure maximum punishment for the accused," he said.

The complaint will be forwarded to the marketing department's academic committee, which will submit recommendations to the university's disciplinary committee for further action.

In a prior notice on September 7, the proctor's office had declared ragging a "social crime", stressing its detrimental effect on students' mental well-being and the educational environment. The notice warned that any student involved in ragging would face disciplinary action according to university regulations.