Staff Reporter :
After nine months police arrested a youth in connection with sexually assaulting several women during Pahela Baishakh celebrations on Dhaka University campus last year.
Sub Inspector Dipak Chandra Das, Investigation Officer (IO) in the case, said acting on a tip-off, a special squad of Detective Branch (DB) police of Dhaka Metropolitan Police raided the city’s Hazi Dewan first lane area on Wednesday night and arrested the youth, named Mohammad Kamal.
“Kamal confessed to the police that he along with other youths were involved in assaulting and sexually harassing many young women during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations at Suhrawardy Udyan gate adjacent to TSC last year,” the IO said.
Kamal was placed on a two-day remand after the plainclothes police produced him before the court on Thursday with a seven-day remand prayer, he said.
Metropolitan Magistrate Abdullah Al Masud passed the remand order.
DMP also announced the arrest on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon in the first major
success in bringing the criminals to book in nearly a year.
Earlier on April 14 last year, a number of rowdy young men assaulted and sexually harassed around 20 women for about one hour at the Suhrawardy Udyan gate near the TSC on Dhaka University campus during the celebration of the first day of Bangla New Year.
The joyous celebration of the Bangalee’s biggest festival — Pahela Baishakh — was tainted by the incidents of sexual assault on women sparking widespread public outrage.
Last year, police detected eight perpetrators of the sexual assault during Pahela Baishakh celebrations from CCTV footage. The law-enforcing agency also announced Tk 1 lakh bounty to help arrest each of the culprits, with promise to keep the informers names secret.
When the incident took place the law enforcers were stationed only 20 yards from the spot, but allegedly they did nothing to rescue the women or arrest those who launched the sexual assault.
The youths were divided into three groups and each group had 10-12 of them. People everywhere around were blowing ‘vuvuzela’ so loudly that nobody could hear the victims’ cry for help.
Thousands of people were milling around the area, making it difficult for them to prevent the attackers.
Meanwhile, the DB police on Thursday filed an application with another Dhaka court seeking revival of the sexual assault case.
The IO Dipak Chandra Das submitted the appeal with the Third Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression.
DB filed the appeal as SI Dipak had earlier submitted the final report clearing all the suspects from the sexual assault charges.
The tribunal fixed February 23 to pass an order on the appeal and directed police to produce Kamal before the court on the scheduled date.
