Bangladesh sentences 20 to death for murder of student

A Bangladesh Court has sentenced 20 university students to death for the 2019 murder of a young man named Abrar Fahad, who criticised the government on social media.

Abrar Fahad, a 21-year-old second year student of the country’s prestigious Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was beaten to death on October 7, 2019 by 25 BUET students who were members of Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League party.

The battered body of Abrar Fahad, 21, was found in his dormitory hours after he wrote a Facebook post slamming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for signing a water-sharing deal with India.

The incident triggered a firestorm of protests on campuses across the country. Many took to social media to demand justice for Abrar. Amid protest on the campus, Buet authorities on had banned all political activities on the campus and suspended 19 students, mostly leaders of the university's BCL unit who have been made accused in Abrar Fahad killing case.

The remaining five perpetrators were handed life terms. All those given death sentences were between 20 and 22 years old at the time of the murder and attended the elite Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology alongside Fahad. Three of the defendants are still at large, while the rest were in the courtroom.