THE killing of Abrar exposes a grim picture about the quality, more exactly the absence, of administrative control in the running of the university, particularly of the students' halls. It would not be wrong to suggest that what we find in Buet is fairly representative of the state of affairs in most other public universities.

It is unthinkable that torture and harassment by BCL leaders could go on all these years in all the residential halls of Buet without the university administration taking any notice of it or taking any measure to stop the heinous practices.

Understandably, the victims did not report it to the authorities for fear of further harassment and torture and many of them also feared that if they revealed their ordeals to the authorities, they might be ousted from the halls. However, it is clear from the news reports that the existence of BCL's torture cells inside the dorms was an open secret to the students. But what prevented the university authorities from taking up the matter with the higher authorities? And we wonder whether the education ministry has any role in ensuring a congenial atmosphere in the university.

This murder is a glaring example of the indifference of the Buet administration who did nothing to look after the wellbeing of their students inside the campus. While it was the BCL leaders who tortured Abrar to death, it was also the university administration's inaction about all the wrongdoings that had been going on inside the halls for so many years, that led to this gruesome murder. And Buet is perhaps not the only university where such wrongdoings are going on.