Ekattor TV senior Journalist Farzana Rupa received a death threat from a self-proclaimed Islamic militant, minutes after her report on the Pohela Boishakh assault on women was telecast on the private television channel.
Rupa, the special correspondent of the TV channel, told the Dhaka Tribune that a person identifying himself as the deputy chief of the Islamic militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team's Rajshahi unit, and also a member of the banned militant outfit JMB, threatened to kill her and her family members if she doesn't give up her job.
She said after the news on the potential suspects of the assault and sexual harassment on women on the Bengali New Year celebration at TSC in the Dhaka University area was aired at 7pm on Saturday, she received the threat.
However, the journalist declined to name the man by which he identified himself to facilitate an ongoing investigation.
In the report on the assault and sexual harassment on Pohela Boishakh aired on Ekattor TV, some potential suspects were detected and ring members of the organised perpetrators of the incident traced, after scrutinising the CCTV footage available on the spot that day.
A bearded man was found to be a potential suspect, as suspicious movement on the scene around and during the incident suggested he was a potential perpetrator in the report.
“Immediately after the report was broadcast, I first received an SMS, in which the sender claimed he knew the bearded man as being an activist of Olama League.”
"But after a while, I received the call where the self-proclaimed JMB and Ansarulla Bangla Team man threatened to kill me and said: 'If you don't leave the organisation of the atheist and stop promoting atheism through your journalism, you will be killed, and one after another, your family members will be killed, after finding out where they live.'”
After getting the gruesome threat, Rupa filed a general diary with the capital's New Market police station, and sought security from the government.
“The government officials concerned including the DMP commissioner talked to me to figure out the related aspects of ensuring security,” Rupa added.
On the Pohela Boishakh celebration, several women were attacked, assaulted, and sexually harassed by men, believed to be perpetrated in an organised manner, triggering widespread condemnation and protest.
Since then, Rupa has been following the incident and following up on it with some sensational findings into the incident.
