Bus conductor held for assaulting DU female student

Police have detained a bus conductor for assaulting a female student of Dhaka University on her way home in the capital's Rampura area on Thursday evening.

Rafia Tamanna, a final-year student of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, said she filed a general diary with Rampura police station on Thursday night in this connection.

The student, also a journalist herself, boarded a bus of "Torongo Plus" on Rampura road around 7pm on Thursday, according to the complaint.

Rafia said she was being continuously harassed and catcalled by the bus conductor since she boarded the bus with the number plate “Dhaka Metro Ka 15-7778".

"He threatened to throw me off the running bus when I showed him my student ID card and demanded a half pass," she said.

“A good female student should not be all alone on a bus at night,” Rafia quoted the conductor. Rafia said: “When he approached me, I got scared and slapped him out of reflex, as you know the experiences of a woman in a local bus are not very pleasant in Bangladesh."

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"Then the man repeatedly punched me, kicked me, and was prepared to throw me off the bus when the driver intervened and pulled him back," she added.

After getting down from the bus, Rafia said, she went to Rampura police station right away and filed a general diary (GD), a copy of which was obtained by UNB.

At one point, she slapped the conductor, who then struck her several times in the face, resulting in profuse bleeding from her nose.

Officer-in-Charge of Rampura police station Md Rafikul Islam said: “After receiving the GD copy, we took the accused to the police station. Action will be taken against him as per the law."