Seven students of Dhaka University (DU) were injured as a car driven by the son of a university teacher hit them on a campus road in front of the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS) on Tuesday (13 October), leaving a Linguistics Department student with serious injuries to her head and legs.

Later, agitated students vandalised the car, and took the driver, himself a student of the university, to the proctor’s office, demanding legal action.

The accident occurred at around 11:30 am when the car struck the students. The injured students were rescued and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

According to eyewitnesses, the car first hit Jannatul Islam Tahiya, a student of the Linguistics Department, before injuring six other students. Tahiya, who belongs to the 2024-25 academic year, sustained serious injuries to her head and legs.

The driver, Sadman Sakib, is a student of the university’s Institute of Information Technology (IIT) for the 2023-24 academic year. He is the son of Prof Dr Mohammad Shahidul Islam, a teacher of the Mathematics Department.

Eyewitnesses said the car turned a routine day on campus into a scene of panic as students were struck and thrown aside. Musfiqul Islam, a student of the Marketing Department, said Tahiya was bleeding heavily from her face after the accident.

Following the incident, students detained Shakib and took him to the university proctor’s office. They demanded that the university administration file a case over the accident and take effective measures to prevent similar incidents on campus.

‘I pressed the accelerator instead of the brake’

Explaining how the accident occurred, Shakib told Daily Sun, “I have very little experience of driving. Today, I took the car out as a hobby. The driver was also with me. While driving, I went around Arts Faculty. At that point, I became frightened when I saw so many people. When I reached the road in front of FBS and tried to brake, I pressed the accelerator instead.”

He added, “The car started speeding up. It first hit several students in front of it. Later, with the help of the driver, we managed to bring the car under control.”

However, university student Sinha Mallick said the car had been moving dangerously on campus roads even before the accident. According to her, the driver repeatedly drove around the area and sounded the horn loudly at rickshaws and students in the car’s path.

Mallick said, “As soon as I entered the FBS road from Shadow canteen on my bicycle at around 10:30am, the car overtook me in an unusual manner and headed towards FBS. It was sounding the horn loudly at all the rickshaws and students coming in front of it. Perhaps the accident could have happened earlier, but it happened on the next turn.”

Administration assures treatment and legal action

Six of the seven injured students are from the 32nd batch of the Marketing Department. They sustained injuries to their hands, legs, knees and other parts of their bodies. Tahiya was the other injured student.

The extent of Tahiya’s leg injuries, including whether any bones were broken, remained to be confirmed through medical examinations.

The injured students received emergency treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. One student was given oxygen after becoming distressed, while medical staff bandaged the wounds of others.

Prof Israfil Ratan, the university proctor, said, “The injured students were quickly taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. They have already received emergency medical care.”

Students who gathered at the proctor’s office after the accident urged the administration to file a case with Shahbagh Police Station. They also prepared a written petition and collected signatures in support of their demand.

Prof Shantu Barua, an assistant proctor of the university, said, “We have received a written demand from the injured students to file a case with Shahbagh Police Station. The proctor’s office is also positive about the demand.”

He added, “We assure the students that the university administration will file a case over the incident at the initiative of the proctor’s office.”

Prof Mohammad Shahidul Islam, the teacher of the Mathematics Department and the driver’s father, said, “I will accept whatever decision the university administration takes.”