Recent reports of bus workers violently assaulting passengers have highlighted a serious lack of oversight in the system.
According to one report, a family of passengers was beaten up in Barisal for voicing their concerns about bus workers not following Covid-19 directives issued by the government. The violation of the 50% occupancy directive is already a serious threat to public health, especially with Bangladesh still reeling from the second Covid wave.
This is likely not the only case of such transgression, and more bus workers are similarly flouting the rules. Locals in the area also attested to this, saying that no internal-route buses followed Covid guide-lines since the concerned authorities never checked in on them. That the workers responded to being called out by assaulting the family making the complaint also implies that they are not worried about facing any repercussions for defying the rules.
Yet another report of six bus workers gang-raping a woman on a moving bus at Ashulia in Savar is another particularly egregious example of the lack of surveillance and accountability these offenders enjoy. Not only is this an immediate result of the country’s serious rape and rape culture problem, it is also a part of the larger issue of these culprits not fearing any sort of consequences for their actions.
Repeated instances of such violations speak to an overarching issue with the current system that must be addressed immediately. Not only should a zero-tolerance policy be adopted towards offenders, but greater supervision and surveillance measures must also be put in place to prevent further crimes of a similar nature.
