Indian woman complains of sexual assault in Jessore

An Indian woman has made allegations of assault and harassment against a local easy-bike driver in Jessore. The incident reportedly occurred at the city's central bus terminal on Saturday. Ratna Chakrabarti, 36, claimed to be a journalist and a humanitarian activist, hailing from North 24 Pargana district under West Bengal. She is currently a resident of Barasat, and had legally arrived in Bangladesh a few days ago on official business. Ratna claimed she tried to hail an easy-bike at the Jessore Central Bus Terminal to reach Keshabpur for humanitarian work. However, the driver reportedly hurled abuses towards Ratna. She immediately confronted the driver by grabbing his collar. The driver then reportedly assaulted Ratna in broad daylight, and in presence of several onlookers. The Indian national lodged a verbal complaint with the Jessore Kotwali police station around 5pm the same day. Ratna, accompanied by a police officer later revisited the bus terminal, but could not track down the easy-bike driver. Duty Officer Mostafizur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: "We visited the bus terminal in search of the easy-bike driver, a man named Sohag. But, we have yet to track him down." Local police sent the woman on her way to Keshabpur on a bus later that evening. Responding to a query from the Dhaka Tribune, executive director of human rights organisation Rights Jessore, Binay Krishna Mallik said: "The incident is deplorable. Ratna is a foreign national, and an international level humanitarian activist. She is also a former councillor in Kishalaya area of Barasat. She is a well respected person there." "The police must make a serious effort bring the perpetrator to justice," he added.