A Dhaka court yesterday directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to re-investigate the case filed in connection with sexual harassment of several women during the Pohela Boishakh celebrations on Dhaka University campus last year.
Judge Joyasri Samaddar of the Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 3 passed the order after accepting a no-confidence petition filed by Special Public Prosecutor Mahmuda Akter.
The petition says: “As the case is a sensational one, it should be re-investigated.”
The court also asked the PBI to submit the probe report by March 23.
During the case proceedings, police produced the sex offender, Md Kamal, arrested in a drive from a residence in the capital’s Chawkbazar area.
According to the case documents, a group of youths assaulted and sexually harassed a number of women at Suhrawardy Udyan gate near Dhaka University’s TSC during Pohela Boishakh celebrations on April 14, 2015.
The joyous celebration of the Bangalee’s biggest festival was tainted by the incident. It sparked a wave of protest throughout the country with people from all quarters including DU students’ organisations condemning the incident and demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
Later, police filed a case with Shahbagh police station over the incident on April 17. Police at first denied having any evidence of sexual assault while they termed the incident a mere scuffle.
But on May 17, AKM Shahidul Haque, the inspector general of police, told reporters that they had recognised the faces of eight men and sought help for capturing them and announced a reward of Tk1 lakh for the capture.
On December 13 last year, the Detective Branch submitted a final report to the court, saying that none of the sex offenders had been identified.
“During the investigation, it was also proved that the incident was true and eight to ten miscreants carried out the assault on some women in the crowded place,” the final report said.
After accepting the final report, the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate sent the report to Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 3 on December 31 for its disposal.
On January 27, police arrested Md Kamal, 35, from his residence in the city’s old Dhaka area in connection with the incident.
Following the arrest, the DB submitted an application with the tribunal, seeking revival of the sexual assault case.
Following the plea, Judge Jayasri Samaddar of the court fixed February 23 to pass an order on the appeal and asked police to produce Kamal before court on that day.
