Freshman students ragged at SUST by dressing chair as 'girl'
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Allegations of ragging have been raised against six senior students at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet, for holding several first-year students captive and subjecting them to ragging.
The allegations include forcing students to dress a chair as a girl and a freshman as a boy, performing obscene and perverse sexual acts to the rhythm of sexual poetry, and various other forms of ragging.
A victimised student has already filed a complaint with the university's Proctor's Office regarding the matter.
According to university sources, the incident took place on the night of August 10 at the Baraigul Ripon Student Hostel, adjacent to Syed Mujtaba Ali Hall on campus.
Four first-year students were held captive for four long hours and ragged. The accused are: Golzar (batch 2018–19, Department of Bengali), Solaiman (batch 2020–21, Department of Economics), Sabbir (batch 2023–24, Department of Industrial and Production Engineering), Maruf and Abu Rayhan (batch 2023–24, Department of Political Studies), and Tibra (batch 2024–25, Department of Petroleum and Mining Engineering).
The victimised students include Nasir (Department of Marine Science), Md. Golam Morshed and Shahadat Hossain Sagar (Department of Industrial and Production Engineering), and Ziaur Rahman (Department of Bengali). All are first-year students of the 2025–26 academic session.
One victim, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "Six seniors took us to celebrate a senior's birthday, but instead they ragged us. Initially, four of us were forced to perform various types of dances. If anyone laughed by mistake, they were made to stand on one leg. Later, we were made to act out ten different types of crying."
He added: "One of us was dressed as a girl using a towel, and another as a boy, and we were made to act out a proposal scene. Then we were forced to loudly recite obscene and adult poetry. One person was forced to utter offensive or sexually suggestive words."
Another victim said: "I was made to stand in front of a chair, imagine it as a girl, and perform sexually suggestive poetry in rhythm. I was extremely broken and felt like crying, but they kept pressuring me to perform. Since the incident, I have been mentally devastated and still cannot overcome the trauma."
When contacted for comment on the matter, accused student Solaiman Kabir hung up the phone. Another accused, Abu Rayhan, said: "I was present there. But the allegations being made – some of them did happen, but I did not do them. Sabbir from the IPE department did them." When Sabbir was called to ask about the allegations, he hung up.
Another accused, Maruf, said: "We have resolved the matter among ourselves."
When asked, the university's Proctor, Professor Mokhlesur Rahman, said: "We have already received the complaint. The Proctorial Body is currently in a meeting. Appropriate action will be taken on the matter after investigation."
