Gomal University attack: Hundreds of infuriated students boycott classes in protest

Vice-chancellor forms 3-member probe committee; assures protesters the culprit will be arrested.


Zulfiqar Ali April 20, 2012

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A day after a male Gomal University student stabbed a female classmate at the dean’s office, shocked students staged a rally and boycotted classes to protest the attack.

Mariam*, a first year student, was seriously wounded after Arshad* Mehsud attacked her at the Faculty of Agriculture. She was immediately rushed to the nearby Civil District Hospital DI Khan where the staff declared her condition out of danger. They said she had been stabbed seven times with a knife in different parts of the body. Mariam claimed that Arshad had been harassing her and attacked her when she turned him down.

Rallies were organised at the university’s main and city campuses by Muttahida Tulba Mahaz, an umbrella organisation of student groups at the university. Hundreds of students participated in the protests, chanting slogans against the university administration and district administration for failing to arrest the culprit.

Later, they laid siege to the vice-chancellor’s office at the main campus, and refused to disperse until the VC Dr Mansoor Akbar Kundi came out and spoke to them.

Dr Kundi announced a three-member inquiry committee, comprising senior professors Dr Muhammad Ayaz, Dr Saeed Khattak and Abdul Hamid Khan, which will investigate the incident and present a report within three days.

Meanwhile, DI Khan DIG Qazi Jamil visited Mariam at the hospital and assured her and her family that the culprit will be arrested soon. He said he had ordered the responsible police officials to apprehend Arshad as soon as possible.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Correction: An earlier version of this article carried the incorrect location. The correction has been made.

COMMENTS (5)

Khalid Aziz Chaudhary | 11 years ago | Reply

Tragic- by now the culprit may have already reached NWA. What a shame?

Waqas ali | 11 years ago | Reply Dr Mansoor Akbar Kundi is indeed a very intelligent man but he is not a good administrater... I thnk he is not able to run a uni like gomal... He just made this commite and he will forget abt all ths incident in 2 or 3 days...
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