Two members of the Comilla district Detective Branch (DB) have been suspended for harassing two teenagers in Comilla's Nagar Udyan, by capturing videos, hurling abuses and spreading the video on social media.
Comilla Superintendent of Police (SP) Farooq Ahmed confirmed that the two members were dismissed on Thursday night. “Departmental action is being taken against them.”
The video that became viral on Facebook created much hype.
The duo were sitting and chatting at the park on Pohela Boishakh when one of the DB members walked towards them while filming a video. The officers made them stand and pestered the teenagers with questions.
At one point, one of the officers addressed the teenage girl informally and asked her to take off her mask for identification. They even asked for the girl’s father's number in response to which the teenage boy said her father lived abroad.
The officers then said that they would take the girl to their office and that her father or a guardian would have to release her from their office. They even threatened the girl, and said something along the lines of tearing off her hair.
In the video that lasted for 1.10 minutes, the boy was seen apologizing several times, only to be disregarded by the police members.
Badrul Huda, former president of Nagorik Committee Comilla, a citizens’ body, said: "Police can record a video of anything as documentary evidence to maintain law and order. However, the conversations the two had with the teenagers in the city park are objectionable.
“We also need to look into how the video they captured spread through social media. Had any of the two teenagers made a suicidal decision because of the harassment, who would have taken the responsibility?”
SP Farooq said that they had identified the DB members on Thursday afternoon and suspended them at night.
