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immediate past Ducsu VP, said, “To stay in power, the government has been backing the evil force which is involved in rape and torture of women.”

Raising questions over the government’s role in stopping the rape incident, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convenor of Nagorik Oikya, claimed that the government does not want to put the rapists on trial as they belong to the ruling party.

Later, the Sadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakshan Parishad brought out a torchlight procession from the Jatiya Press Club. It ended in Kakrail area. The protestors also staged a sit-in at Kakrail intersection for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, teachers and students held a protest rally in Shahbagh under the banner of a newly formed platform -- “Bangladesh against Rape and Impunity”.Tanzimuddin Khan, associate professor of DU’s International Relations department, said people are victims of deception and the state is playing deceptive games with its people.

Speakers at the programme demanded ending all kinds of repression on indigenous women and forming an anti-repression cell for women at each institution and organisation as per the High Court’s directives.

They also urged the government to take steps to stop hate speech against women at all sorts of programmes, including religious ones, and stop exhibiting women as product in literature, drama, cinema and advertisement.

They also called for stopping mental torture on rape victims during investigation.

At the event, Bangladesh Chhatra Union General Secretary Anik Roy declared a weeklong protest programme.

The organisation said it will hold an anti-rape photo exhibition, cultural rally, film festival, women rally and cycle rally to press home its demand.

If the government fails to meet their demand, they will organise a long march to Begumganj of Noakhali from the capital’s Shahbagh on October 16 and hold a rally in Begumganj the following day.

Meanwhile, a DU female student continued her hunger strike until death yesterday at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture, demanding the arrest of former Ducsu VP Nurul and five others in connection with a rape case.