12 policemen closed for allegedly harassing schoolgirls

Twelve policemen have been closed to Khulna police line following violent protests for allegedly sexually harassing schoolgirls in front of a temporary police outpost in Kharabad Baintola area under Khulna’s Batiaghata upazila.

Five among them – Naik Zahid and Constables Riyad, Nayeem, Abir and Sumanta – will face departmental inquiry over their alleged involvement with the harassment, confirmed Khulna Superintendent of Police (SP) Nizamul Huq Molla and Batiaghata police station OC Mozammel Haque.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, the SP said locals detained the five law enforcement personnel of Kharabad Baintola police outpost on Tuesday afternoon following an allegation that those five men had allegedly beaten a man and vandalized his shop for raising complaints over the stalking of his sister.

The SP visited the outpost and closed the accused personnel instantly to appease the situation. Later, seven other personnel of the outpost – its in-charge Tariquzzaman, Arif 1, Tanvir, Ishtiaq, Arif 2, Humayun and Bakul – were closed to the police line.

The assaulted man’s sister, a 10th grader, alleged that the policemen used to harass her in front of the outpost on her way to and from school.

“The police members used to whistle at me and harass me in various ways. After informing my elder brother about the matter, he went to the outpost to talk about it. Police members there beat him and later vandalized his shop,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.