Five Jailed for 15 Days Over Homosexuality Allegations, Four Medical Students Lose Hostel Seats

Five people, including four students of the Government Unani and Ayurvedic Medical College in Dhaka, were sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment following allegations of homosexuality. They had earlier been detained over the same allegations and handed over to Kafrul Police Station before a mobile court sentenced all five to 15 days in jail. In the same case, the college administration temporarily cancelled the residential hostel seats of the four students. A notice issued by the college also stated that the students had been handed over to police on suspicion of being “addicted to homosexuality.”

The incident began on the night of 22 April in a lane near the college mosque. According to media reports, Shahriar Palak, a student of the 35th batch of the BUMS programme, was detained there with an outside individual and accused of homosexuality. Media reports, citing college-related sources, said that three other students were subsequently named on the basis of information obtained while Shahriar was being questioned. They were Ahsanul Islam Chowdhury of the 33rd batch of the BAAMS programme, and Mohibur Rahman Noyon and Rabbi Hossain, also known as Arian Shah Rabbi, both of the 34th batch. The four students and the outside individual were then handed over to police, and a mobile court sentenced each of them to 15 days’ imprisonment. College Principal Dr Md Rashiduzzaman Khan later confirmed the imprisonment of the five people to the media. By the time detailed reports about the case appeared in May, they had already completed their sentences.

Alongside the police handover and imprisonment, the college authorities also took institutional action against the four students over the same allegations. Following an emergency meeting of the Academic Council on 23 April, their residential hostel seats were temporarily cancelled. According to media reports, a notice signed by Hostel Superintendent and Resident Medical Officer Dr Md Mokshed Ali stated that the four students had been handed over to police on suspicion of being “addicted to homosexuality” and that their residential seats had been temporarily cancelled. Their studentship, however, was not cancelled, with the college principal confirming that they remained enrolled as students. The homosexuality allegations therefore resulted in five people being handed over to police and sentenced by a mobile court to 15 days’ imprisonment, while four of them also lost their residential hostel seats.