A Dhaka court has placed Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student Shreeshanto Roy on a three-day remand in a case filed with Chawkbazar Police Station for allegedly hurting religious sentiments on social media. Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ariful Islam passed the order on Wednesday after a hearing.
Earlier, on 23 October, the investigating officer of Chawkbazar Police Station, SI Shahjahan Siraj, added the charge of hurting religious sentiments to the case. Later, on 31 October, the officer sought a three-day remand for the accused. The court then fixed 5 November for the remand hearing in the presence of the accused.
During the hearing, the defence lawyer filed a petition seeking cancellation of remand and bail, which the prosecution opposed. After hearing both sides, the court granted a three-day remand for Shreeshanto.
On the night of October 21, a group of BUET students staged a protest on campus, demanding punishment for Shreeshanto over allegations of hurting religious sentiments and cyberbullying. Facing mounting pressure, police from Chawkbazar Police Station detained him that night. The next day, BUET Security Officer Afghan Hossain filed a case against him, after which he was shown arrested and sent to jail.
According to the case statement, while residing at Ahsanullah Hall of BUET, Shreeshanto allegedly used a Facebook ID named “Weekly Service” to post writings between 8 June and 7 September that insulted Muslim women and Islam. The posts reportedly contained obscene remarks and hate speech, which hurt the religious sentiments of other BUET students and Muslims.
