An athlete trainer was allegedly harassed by police and detained for around 40 minutes at Dhaka’s Farmgate Metro Rail Station on Sunday morning for wearing a T-shirt and shorts after completing a training session.
The police officer on duty reportedly described his outfit as “indecent” and prevented him from entering the station, despite the absence of any official dress code for metro rail passengers.
Sajjad Hossain, who has been coaching marathon and ultramarathon runners for nearly 10 years, shared a video of the incident on Facebook.
The 55-second video shows an exchange between Sajjad and a police officer identified by his nameplate as Zakir.
When Sajjad asked why he was being prevented from entering the station, the officer said: “You have been told to dress modestly. This does not fall entirely within the definition of modesty.”
Sajjad then asked whether there was any written regulation defining appropriate clothing. The officer replied: “This is my responsibility to look into.”
Speaking to media, Sajjad said he had conducted a training session in Ramna earlier that morning before visiting Farmgate for personal work.
After finishing, he went to the metro station to travel to Bijoy Sarani. Although he had purchased a ticket, a police officer stopped him at the entrance, allegedly reprimanding him for wearing “indecent clothes.”
Sajjad explained that he was a running coach travelling after completing his training session and asked the officer to show him any rule prohibiting shorts.
However, two other police officers also objected to his clothing. One reportedly asked him to return wearing trousers and even suggested that he remove his shorts and leave them behind.
Sajjad alleged that he was kept waiting in front of the ticket-punching machine for approximately 40 minutes.
He also claimed that a female official from the metro rail's control room questioned his clothing and took photographs of him before consulting senior officials.
He was eventually allowed to travel after discussions with senior metro rail authorities.
A senior metro rail official told Dhaka Tribune that there is no dress code for passengers using the service.
The official said he was unaware of why police had subjected Sajjad to what he described as unnecessary harassment.
Attempts to contact the MRT Police public relations officer for comment were unsuccessful. He did not answer repeated phone calls or respond to WhatsApp messages.
Sajjad said he subsequently filed a written complaint at Farmgate station but was not given a copy. He was also allegedly prevented from photographing the complaint.
“If wearing shorts is prohibited on the metro, the authorities should show the written regulation,” he said, adding that wearing running clothes after morning exercise was entirely normal.