Three HSTU Students Assaulted and Handed Over to Police Over Allegations of Homosexuality

Three students of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) in Dinajpur were physically assaulted and detained by fellow students before being handed over to police following allegations of homosexuality. The incident took place on the night of 16 May in Haven City, a residential area near the university. Media reports identified the three as Kawsar, Monirul and Robiul, all students of the Faculty of Fisheries. Kawsar was from the 26th batch, while Monirul and Robiul were from the 25th batch. According to contemporary reports, other students confronted the three after raising suspicions about their relationships and examined their private communications and messages. They were then questioned over allegations of homosexuality, and the situation became violent. Video footage of the incident reviewed for this documentation shows the three students surrounded and subjected to physical violence by fellow students. Before any formal university investigation had taken place, their private communications and actual or perceived sexual orientation had therefore become the subject of peer surveillance, questioning and violence.

Various statements attributed to the three students during the incident were subsequently published by news outlets. However, those statements emerged in circumstances in which the students had been detained by their peers and subjected to physical violence. They should therefore not be presented as proof of their sexual orientation or as confessions to any wrongdoing. None of the news reports reviewed for this documentation established allegations that the three students had engaged in non-consensual sexual conduct or sexual violence. University authorities later became involved in the incident. HSTU Proctor Dr Md Nowsher Wan told the media that the administration contacted police after learning about the situation and described the alleged conduct as “anti-social activities.” According to contemporary reports, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Kawsar, Monirul and Robiul were handed over to police in the presence of university officials and other students. The students who had initially been subjected to violence by their peers thus ultimately found themselves facing police intervention.

The incident was one of several documented cases at HSTU in 2026 involving allegations of homosexuality. Earlier, on 19 January, an HSTU student and a university admission candidate had been detained near the university over similar allegations and handed over to police. Within a few months, three more students were subjected to peer surveillance, detention and physical violence over allegations concerning their actual or perceived sexual orientation before being transferred to police custody. The 16 May incident therefore represents more than a campus controversy; it documents how allegations of homosexuality can expose students to violations of privacy, violence and discriminatory treatment, while raising serious concerns about their safety and protection from discrimination within and around the university environment.