A prominent student leader in Bangladesh, Shamim Ahmed, was brutally beaten to death at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, allegedly as retaliation for his involvement in attacks on protesters during the movement that led to the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last month.
Ahmed, a key figure in the student wing of Hasina’s Awami League party, was assaulted by unknown attackers on Wednesday night, according to police officer Abu Bakkar.
The assault was reportedly in response to his leadership role in a mid-July attack on student demonstrators, who were protesting to demand Hasina’s removal from office.
“We took him to the Gonoshasthaya Hospital, where he later died,” Bakkar confirmed.
Hospital staff confirmed to AFP that Ahmed had died due to multiple injuries sustained during the attack.
Ahmed is the second high-ranking member of the Awami League’s student wing to be killed in September.
Abdullah Al Masud, another leader, died earlier in the month after being assaulted by a mob in Rajshahi. He, too, had been accused of organizing counter-demonstrations against the student-led protests.
The unrest that forced Hasina from power saw widespread violence, with more than 450 people killed during the uprising.
Her government was widely condemned for human rights abuses, including mass arrests and extrajudicial killings of political opponents.
Since Hasina fled to India in early August, senior figures in her administration have been arrested, and many of her appointees have been removed from their positions in the judiciary and central bank.
Additionally, at least 25 journalists linked to her regime have been detained since the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus, took control of the country.