A man who was accused of sexually harassing a woman via Facebook Messenger app at the end of last month has been let off by police after he submitted a signed bond, promising such incident will never happen in future.
Facing massive public outrage on social media after the incident was made public, he signed and submitted the bond at police’s Detective Branch (DB) headquarters in Dhaka Thursday night.
The man, reportedly the chief reporter of a little-known newspaper, unconditionally apologised for his remarks made on March 26 while chatting with the complainant on Messenger, and said he would face the legal consequences without any objection if such incident occurred again.
One of the women protesting the incident said the accused arrived at the DB office around 7pm and the protesters arrived an hour later. The DB officials heard from both parties and the whole incident.
When DB officials told him that a case under the ICT Act’s Section 57 would be filed against him for his offence, the man pleaded for forgiveness and said he would sign the bond and issue a public apology. He also promised to withdraw the general diary he had filed against the victim.
Another protester said: “We think this is a victory for women. This will be a warning to those people who harass women on Facebook. Not one of them will be spared.”
A woman on March 28 had brought the sexual harassment allegations against the man by posting screenshots of their conversations on Facebook.
The complainant had applied for the position of a reporter for the daily he worked at. Later, he had asked her to go on a “long drive” and whether she “liked sex” while chatting on Messenger app.
The matter had led to widespread criticism and protest on social media.This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
Thursday, April 25, 2024
