A woman was killed after she was dragged along the road underneath a car on Dhaka University campus on Friday afternoon.
A white Toyota car bearing registration number Dhaka Metro-Ka-05-0055 and owned by a former teacher of the university knocked the woman on a motorbike down near the TSC area of the campus and dragged her nearly half a kilometre, said police.
The victim was identified as Rubina Akter, 45, a housewife.
Locals detained the car driver and gave him a mob beating in the Nilkhet area of the campus before police rescued him.
The driver, Azhar Jafar Shah, was alone in the car, said Shahbagh police sub-inspector Kawsar Ahmed.
Dhaka University proctor professor Golam Rabbani said that Azhar Jafar was a former teacher in the university’s International Relations department.
He was terminated from the university on the grounds of moral turpitude, said the proctor.
Rubina and her brother-in-law were on a motorbike when the private car hit it from the back at the TSC area and dragged several hundred yards at about 3:30pm, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner for New Market zone Sharif Mohammad Farukuzzaman.
Rubina was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment around 4:30pm, said police.
Rubina’s brother-in-law, Nurul Amin, said that they were heading from Tejgaon to Hazaribagh when the accident took place.
‘Our house is in Tejgaon. We were going to the house of a brother of my sister-in-law in Hazaribagh from our home through the Dhaka University campus. A car hit my motorcycle near the TSC. We both fell off, and my sister-in-law got stuck under the car. The car then dragged her all the way from there to Nilkhet. People yelled at the driver to stop the car, but he did not stop,’ Nurul said.
A video of the incident that became viral on social media showed that some people were shouting at the driver to stop the car, but he did not stop. The car was then stopped at the Nilkhet exit point of the campus.
The driver tried to escape, but students and pedestrians caught him and gave him a mob beating, said Shahbagh police officer-in-charge, Nur Mohammad.
Jafar Shah introduced him as a former Dhaka University teacher to the police before he was taken to DMCH for treatment.
The driver was severely beaten, and police are yet to have detailed information about him due to his injuries, the OC said.
Dhaka University International Relations Department chairperson professor Ruhul Amin said that their department did not maintain any contact with Jafar after his termination.
‘So far I know Jafar has a family business and lives in the Paribagh area,’ said Ruhul Amin.
Later in the evening, a group of students brought out a procession and staged a sit-in protest in front of the Dhaka University vice-chancellor’s residence, demanding a safe campus.
The students, under the banner of Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, demanded justice over the accident.
They demanded the installation of checkpoints at the university's entrances and stated that the university's administration could not escape responsibility for the accident on campus.
