Committee formed to probe why Gopalganj health worker was quarantined in a makeshift hut

A three-member probe committee has been formed in Kotalipara upazila of Gopalganj to investigate the reasons behind quarantining a female healthcare worker inside a small thatched-hut under deplorable conditions for seven days before she was rescued on Monday. 

The probe committee, led by Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Mohsin Uddin, has been asked to submit a report within three working days, confirmed Kotalipara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) SM Mahfizur Rahman on Tuesday. “The people found responsible will face legal repercussions for carrying out an illegal and highly unethical act.”

Meanwhile, her village home will be renovated as it’s currently in a ramshackle state, he added.

On April 21, the 21-year-old woman working at Dhaka’s Impulse Hospital, returned home to Lokhonda village, after the hospital had shut down amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  

As news of her arrival spread, locals, allegedly following the directives of Sadullapur union Awami League Organizing Secretary Proshanta Baroi, forced the woman to stay in quarantine in a makeshift hut built near a dried pond around 400 metres away from her house.

The incident went viral after pictures of her were posted on various social media platforms.