Mark Phillips\/CNN<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Hours after Hasina fled and her government collapsed \u2013 and within 24 hours of his capture \u2013 Alam said he was released. <\/p>\n
His captors dropped him on a quiet road before dawn, threatening to shoot him if he opened his eyes as they drove away. <\/p>\n
Nearly one month after his release, Alam has had the plaster cast on his foot removed, and he is now moving around on crutches. <\/p>\n
But he says the mental scars will take much longer to heal. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like (a) nightmare,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Nusrat Tabassum \u2013 one of the most senior women coordinating the protest \u2013 was also pursued by the authorities. <\/p>\n
\u201c(It was a) very traumatic time for me,\u201d Tabassum said. \u201cThey broke three doors. They took me with them, and oh my god, the physical torture, that was miserable.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tabassum says she was badly beaten during five days in detention from July 28 to August 1. She re-joined the protests the day after her release. <\/p>\n
The 23-year-old political science student attends the prestigious Dhaka University, which became a central gathering point for the protests in July and early August. <\/p>\n
On the university\u2019s manicured campus sits Curzon Hall, a British colonial-era building surrounded by palm trees that offers an oasis away from the chaotic streets of the capital. <\/p>\n
As Tabassum walks through the building\u2019s historic arches, it\u2019s clear that her bravery has turned her into a poster child for the movement. <\/p>\n
Fellow female students occasionally stop her to take selfies and ask about her time in detention. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur reunion will be at Aynaghor,\u201d one shouts at her as she walks past \u2013 a sign of how many of the students spent time at detention centers. \u201cAynaghor\u201d or \u201cHouse of Mirrors\u201d has morphed into a catch-all term for the various places political prisoners were held. <\/p>\n
Tabassum says she was beaten for more than four hours, covering her in bruises, filling her mouth with cuts, and bursting her ear drum. <\/p>\n
\u201cWithout (a) hearing aid, I can\u2019t listen in my right ear,\u201d Tabassum said. \u201cTwo teeth (became) loose because of the beating.\u201d <\/p>\n
During her detention, she was forced to make a joint confession with five other student leaders which was broadcast on television. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey forced us to make a video statement that we stopped our protest, and there will be no more movement,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Making that video was \u201cmore traumatic\u201d than the beatings, she said, because she feared the people of Bangladesh would feel betrayed. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the most sad thing,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Tabassum said that when word spread that Hasina had resigned her post, ending her authoritarian grip on the country, protesters felt their sacrifice had been worth it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI cried a lot after I heard the news,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was like I lived for that moment my whole life.\u201d <\/p>\n
As she continues her recovery, Tabassum says she\u2019s struggling with memory loss, and has trouble recalling events that occurred even before the beating. <\/p>\n
But she is determined to help shape the new country \u2013 or \u201cBangladesh 2.0\u201d, as people here call it. <\/p>\n