The condition of the Eden Girls College student, who was badly injured in an acid attack by her lover and his accomplice on Tuesday, deteriorated on Wednesday.
‘Her condition is deteriorating. It’s so critical that it will take time to recover,’ the burn unit coordinator, Samanta Lal Sen, told New Age on Wednesday.
The police were yet to trace out the culprits.
Meanwhile, fellows and rights organisations started demonstrations, demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrator.
Sharmin Akhter Aakhi, a fourth year student of Bangla department at the college, was moved to the burn and plastic surgery unit at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday from the ward-206 after the condition deteriorated, the hospital officials said.
Victim’s family, in the case filed with the Bangshal police, said accused Monir Uddin and his friend Masum threw acid and stabbed her when she refused to marry Monir Uddin at the marriage registration office on the first floor of a multi-storey building in the Chankharpool intersection in the capital.
An executive magistrate recorded the statement of victim at the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
The family said Sharmin had met Monir Uddin in 2010 when she visited her relative’s house in Brammanbaria, which is also the village home of Monir. They continued the relation till 2012.
But, towards the end of 2012, Sharmin came to know that Monir Uddin was married and had two children. After that Sharmin started avoiding Monir.
But, the family alleged that the Monir used to disturb her since then.
Tuesday morning, the family and victim said Monir forced Sharmin to go to the marriage registration office at dagger’s point in a bid to force her into marrying him when she was on her way to college near the Kakrail intersection.
Monir was also carrying acid and threatened her with dire consequence if she protested, said Mohiuddin Ahmed, the victim’s youngest brother, quoting the victim.
As Sharmin had tried to escape from the marriage registration office, the acid was thrown on her head and other parts of the body, leaving her critically injured, the family told New Age.
As Sharmin started screaming, the attackers stabbed her indiscriminately and flew the scene.  
The   marriage registration officer, Habibullah Khan, who witnessed the incident, was arrested by the Bangshal police on Tuesday, a police official told New Age.  
The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, meanwhile, visited the student at the hospital and drew the attention of the home ministry to take steps to arrest the criminals. 
‘Such incident is very much alarming in society...We have thought that such incidents have decreased but the reality is not like that,’ he told reporters at the DMCH.
The DMCH director, Mustafizur Rahman, assured the minister that highest treatment would be given to her.
The Eden Girls College principal, Rowshan Jahan, told the media at the DMCH that they condemn the brutal attack on their student and demanded punishment of the attackers.
Meanwhile, rights activists including Bangladesh Mahila Parishad formed human chain in front the National Press Club and Eden Mohila College on Wednesday, demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the attackers.
The Bangshal police officer-in-charge, Abdul Kuddus Fakir, said they were investigating the incident.