Harassment of peer: JnU students seize 12 buses

A group of Jagannath University (JnU) students seized at least 12 buses of Victor Classic Paribahan today following the alleged harassment of a female student of the university by a bus driver and helper of the same bus company.

Witnesses said the students intercepted the 12 buses and forced the drivers to park the vehicles in front of the university's main gate in Dhaka's Sadarghat area around 11:30am, reports our JnU correspondent.

Students said a female student of Pharmacy Department was returning to the campus from Notun Bazar by Victor Classic Paribahan on Tuesday.

When the bus reached Gulishtan, its helper asked all the passengers to get off the bus as it would not go towards Sadarghat. When the student asked for a refund of the remaining fare, the bus driver and helper misbehaved and used abusive words.

Regarding the incident, the female student told The Daily Star, "I was harassed. Even though the half fare for students is implemented, they took full fare from me. Instead, they treated me badly."

JnU Proctor Md Tazammol Hoque said he had a meeting with bus owners of the paribahan in his office today. They were given a three-day ultimatum to take action against the helper and bus driver, otherwise, legal action would be taken against the driver and helper.

However, the buses were released around 3:00pm today after the bus owners promised to take swift action against the bus driver and helper. They also provided a written undertaking to the proctor, added Tazammol.