Chittagong University (CU) student Mamun Mia continues his battle for life in Chattogram’s Parkview Hospital. His head was wrapped in a stark white bandage marked with black letters, “No bone; do not press.”

On 31 August, Mamun, a fourth-year sociology student, was critically injured in an attack by locals in the university area. He is the son of Shukkur Mahmud, hailed from Basail upazila of Tangail. He had been staying with friends near the campus to pursue his studies.

Parkview Hospital’s General Manager Ziauddin told The Business Standard, “Mamun is slowly regaining consciousness and is under treatment in a cabin. For now, he remains without part of his skull. Depending on his condition, it will be replaced in the next stage.”

During the attack, Mamun’s skull was fractured by the blunt side of a machete. Immediately after the incident, he was taken to Parkview Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency decompressive craniectomy. In the procedure, part of his damaged skull was removed and preserved in a freezer, to be re-implanted after two months.

Mamun’s parents have not been able to come to his side, grieving from afar after seeing his photos online. His bandage-wrapped image has since gone viral on social media, drawing widespread sympathy.

“Mamun can now speak a little and take liquid food, but his improvement is not as expected. We are always by his side,” said Shahab Uddin Shihab, one of his classmates.

On 30 August night, at least 50 students were injured when a violent clash erupted at CU, centring an incident of a female student being allegedly harassed by a guard of a building near campus.

On the next day, the tension further escalated for the second day, as clashes erupted again between students and locals near the university’s Gate 2, leaving at least 400 students along with Pro-Vice-Chancellor (administration) Md Kamal Uddin and Proctor Prof Tanvir Mohammad Haydar injured.

In response, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed in the area from Gate No 2 of Chittagong University to the railgate area on the East side of that gate to tackle further clashes.