Tofazzal Hossain was a familiar face to many resident students of Dhaka University. He would often wander about the campus, dorms, and gladly eat if somebody offered him food.
His cousins say he “lost his mind” after the death of his parents and brother and became a drifter.
The Dhaka University students who tortured the 35-year-old to death at Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall on Wednesday night thought he was a thief and assumed the roles of a judge, jury, and executioner.
From 6:30pm onwards, they tortured him, paused for a while, made him walk from one building to another, fed him, and then tortured him again. The dorm authorities and proctor’s office were informed, but nothing was done to stop the lynching.
By the time the university administration took Tofazzal to Shahbagh Police Station, nearly five hours had passed and he was barely breathing. Police were surprised that the officials brought a dying man to a police station instead of taking him to a hospital.
A vehicle of the DU Proctor’s office then took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
Amid widespread outrage over the killing, the university administration yesterday filed a case.
As of last night, police arrested six students named Muhammad Jalal Mia, Suman Mia, Mottakin Shakin, Al Hussain Sajjad, Wajibul Alam, and Ahsanullah.
THE LAST SUPPER
After the first round of torture, the students took Tofazzal to the canteen and bought him a meal.
Some took photos and filmed him eating and shared those on social media groups, writing, “A thief has been apprehended at FH Hall. After beating him up, we are feeding him. He will tell us the names of his gang members after eating.”
Young men were heard laughing and joking in the background.
After dinner, Tofazzal was taken to the guest room of the extension building, where witnesses say he was tortured again.
SCENES OF BRUTALITY
In another footage, Tofazzal is seen lying on the floor littered with blood stains. His body was covered in bruises.
A cricket stump was placed on his arm, and two students took turns jumping over it as Tofazzal pleaded for them to stop.
One of the students has been identified as Jalal, a student of physics. He was also a former deputy secretary of science and technology affairs of the dormitory’s Chhatra League unit.
He resigned from Chhatra League to join the quota reform protests in July.
In another video, Shakin, a student of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, is seen repeatedly hitting Tofazzal with a stump.
Jalal told this newspaper that he was not involved with the beating.
SIX STOLEN PHONES
After six phones were stolen while students were playing cricket in the afternoon, the students were looking for the thief.
Then a group caught Tofazzal loitering near the gate. At least five students said Tofazzal was not near the place from when the phones were lost.
While students were hitting him at the guest room, Tofazzal said he was involved in the stealing and would tell them everything, but he needed to eat first.
The students fed him and later started beating him again.
Almost three hours after Tofazzal was caught, a team from the proctor’s office arrived around 9:30 but failed to intervene.
A team member, requesting anonymity, said, “When we reached there, the students stopped us, saying we would have to return their phones if we wanted to rescue Tofazzal. Only when his condition became critical did they hand him over to us.”
House Tutor Sheikh Zahir Raihan, who went to the scene minutes after Tofazzal was caught, said, “The students were not listening to us. We tried our best.”
A witness said, “A student asked the house tutors, ‘Have your phones been stolen? Why are you interfering? Let us handle this.'”
CCTV footage shows that around 11:00pm, two students helping Tofazzal get into a vehicle of the proctor’s office.
The vehicle went directly to Shahbagh Police Station. Contacted, the station’s Officer-in-Charge Shahabuddin Shaheen said, “When the proctorial team brought him, his condition was critical. We told them to go to Dhaka Medical.”
As per Dhaka Medical College Hospital records, Tofazzal had died before he was taken there.
The inquest report mentions he might have died from internal bleeding and there were injury marks on his back, arms, and lower parts of his body.
When asked why they didn’t take him directly to the hospital, an official of the proctor’s office said, “We followed the protocol. We didn’t think his condition was that severe. He was still alive when we took him to DMCH.”
WHO WAS TOFAZZAL?
Tofazzal’s father died in an accident in 2016 and his mother died from cancer in 2019. His elder brother, who was a police officer, also died of cancer in 2023.
According to his cousins Riyazul Islam and Asma Akhter, his mental health deteriorated after that. He didn’t live anywhere for long and drifted between his hometown Barguna and Dhaka.
“He often sought refuge at Dhaka University, where he felt safe,” Riyazul said.
Asma said after 11:00pm on Wednesday, her father received two phone calls from men introducing themselves as DU students.
They demanded Tk 35,000, and asked him to go to the campus if he wanted to save Tofazzal.
Tofazzal’s sister-in-law Shilpi, who lives in Pirojpur, also received calls from the same numbers. The callers demand Tk 2 lakh from her.
On Truecaller, the numbers are recorded as “Mafi Junior Infs” and “Mehedi Vai M”.
DU Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed said, “The university authority is fully cooperating with the investigation.”
Hundreds of students demonstrated on campus throughout yesterday, demanding justice for the killing.
Daily Star
