THE Bangladesh Weightlifting Federation has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate the allegation against its Office Assistant for raping a female weightlifter, who is a also gold medal winner in the national-level club competition. The incident took place at the old building of the National Sports Council on September 23 this year when the victim came to Dhaka to participate in an event scheduled on September 25. Her family didn’t file any case considering their social honour.
The probe committee has been asked to submit the report within 15 working days. General Secretary of BWF Lt Colonel Nazrul Islam said in a letter that the victim’s maternal uncle submitted a written complaint where he accused Sohag Ali for raping his niece and asked for justice. The BWF has banned alleged Sohag from all sorts of activities till further order.
What’s extremely disturbing for us is that, the victim was highly traumatised and now undergoing treatment at Mental Health Institute. She was so shocked that, she could not even tell it to her family members. At one stage, she tried to commit suicide jumping into a pond.
In the recent days, sexual harassment has become a major cause of concern for us. In most studies conducted on sexual harassment in workplaces, the ready-made garment sector ranked first. However, the abuse is quite common in government offices and private organisations as well. The male perpetrators generally enjoy impunity as workplaces do not have the necessary mechanisms to protect victims from sexual harassment. Many women do not report to higher authorities or police due to concerns about job security and social stigma.
Recently, the #MeToo – an international women movement against sexual harassment has also become popular in Bangladesh. Several educated women have already shared their stories taking part in the movement on social media. It’s a positive thinking; a transformation of conservative mind to an open world. But those who are not highly educated or engaged at low-graded workplaces have not yet joined the movement.
In that case, the law enforcement agencies along with the social organisations should come forward to save them from such incidents. There are harsh laws in the country against sexual harassment but we want to see proper execution of these laws. We do belive; the authorities must ensure exemplary punishment of the culprits.
