SUST Ragging: Four Freshers Allegedly Forced Into Sexually Suggestive Acts

Four first-year students at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) were allegedly detained for nearly four hours and subjected to sexually suggestive and objectionable acts as part of ragging by six senior students. One of the victims has filed a complaint with the university proctor’s office.

The incident allegedly took place on Monday night (August 10) at the Baragul Ripon student hostel near Syed Mujtaba Ali Hall on the SUST campus, according to the victims. The four students, all from the 2025-26 academic year, were allegedly kept there for about four hours and forced to perform objectionable acts, including sexualised performances involving a chair being portrayed as a woman and a fresher as a man, while reciting sexually suggestive poems.

The alleged perpetrators have been identified as Golzar of the Department of Bangla, from the 2018-19 academic year; Solaiman of the Department of Economics, from 2020-21; Sabbir of the Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, from 2023-24; Tibro of the Department of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, from 2024-25; and Maruf and Abu Raihan of the Department of Political Studies, from 2023-24.

A victim, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the six senior students invited the freshers on the pretext of celebrating a senior student’s birthday before subjecting them to ragging. “First, the four of us were forced to perform different dances. If anyone accidentally laughed, they were told to stand with one leg raised. Later, we were made to act out 10 different types of crying,” the student said.

The victim said one student was made to portray a woman with a gamcha and another as a man and perform a proposal scene. They were then allegedly made to loudly recite obscene and adult poems, while one student was forced to utter objectionable or sexually suggestive words.

Another victim said he was forced to stand in front of a chair and perform to sexually suggestive poetry while imagining the chair as a woman.

“I was completely broken at the time and felt like crying. Still, they kept pressuring me to perform. Since the incident, I have been mentally devastated and have not yet been able to overcome the trauma,” he said. When contacted about the allegations, accused student Solaiman Kabir cut the call.

Abu Raihan, another accused student, said, “I was present there. But some of the allegations being made did happen. However, I did not do these things. Sabbir from the IP Department did them.” Sabbir cut the call when contacted for comment on the allegations.

Another accused student, Maruf, said, “We have resolved the matter among ourselves.” SUST Assistant Proctor Professor Belal Hossain Shikdar said, “We received a complaint about the matter today. We will sit tomorrow and take action.”