Journalist Robiul denies touching allegation, says Pori Moni snatched his phone

Journalist Robiul Hossain, a multimedia reporter at the daily Samakal, has denied the allegation that he touched film actress Pori Moni. Instead, he has accused the actress of snatching his mobile phone.

Robiul Hossain told Prothom Alo that Pori Moni hurled abusive language at him and threatened to kill him. He said all of this was captured on video.

Last Thursday, at a Dhaka court premises, film actress Pori Moni accused journalist Robiul Hossain of touching her. Later, she verbally abused him in front of journalists.

Pori Moni went to the Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Court premises on Thursday morning to surrender and seek bail in a case filed by businessman Nasir Uddin Mahmud.

Nasir Uddin Mahmud filed the case at a Dhaka court on 6 July 2022. In the case, he alleged that Pori Moni and her associates vandalised the Savar Boat Club on the night of 9 June 2021 and assaulted him and threatened to kill him.

Earlier, Pori Moni had filed a case at Savar Police Station against Nasir Uddin and others, accusing them of rape and attempted murder in connection with the incident. Testimony is being recorded in that case. Nasir Uddin is out on bail.

After learning that Pori Moni would appear in court in Nasir Uddin's case, journalists from different media outlets gathered there on Thursday.

At around 11:40 am, as Pori Moni got out of her car and headed towards the courtroom, journalists tried to take photographs and videos. This led to a scuffle between them and her security personnel.

At this point, allegations emerged that Pori Moni had snatched the mobile phone of Samakal multimedia reporter Robiul Hossain. Robiul said Pori Moni herself had taken his phone. He also said that security personnel accompanying Pori Moni broke the tripod he was using to record videos. He later took the phone back from her.

Pori Moni gave her explanation of what happened while getting into the lift. She told Prothom Alo, “As I was getting into the lift, someone would not let me in. There is a schedule at the court, and I had to reach there on time. Someone pushed a mobile phone past the side of my head, and there was a stand attached to it. The lift door could not close because of the phone. I moved the phone away with my hand. After moving it, I felt that someone had grabbed my hand.”

Pori Moni said, “I know how the two people who hold me touch me. This was the kind of grip that causes pain, as if someone was clawing at me. I felt pain. I also thought, why did Ratul (one of the people accompanying me) hold me like that? When I looked, I saw that boy (journalist Robiul Hossain).”

Pori Moni further said, “I remembered his face. After getting bail, I kept looking for him as I walked around the court premises. After getting bail in the dock and coming downstairs, I turned my head and saw him. Then I said, ‘Come here.’ I called him using informal and disrespectful language. When I asked why he had held my hand like that, I then heard him saying, ‘Apa, my tripod has been broken.’ At that moment, I felt like burying him in the ground. For some reason, my hand did not rise, even though I was about to raise it.”

Denying Pori Moni's allegation, Robiul Hossain said he did not get into the lift. He was standing in a corner and recording video while people were getting into the lift. He said it was not true that the lift could not close because of his mobile phone and tripod.

Robiul further said, “I do not know whether the lift was unable to close because of a camera person or a lawyer who was already inside it. As Pori Moni was entering the lift, she pulled my phone away. Why would I block her path while she was getting into the lift? I never created any obstruction in her way.”

Responding to the allegation that he had touched Pori Moni, Robiul said, “She is talking about being touched, but I was holding my mobile phone and tripod in my left hand. My right hand is completely out of use (Robiul Hossain’s right hand is congenitally smaller than his left, and three fingers are missing; he cannot perform normal activities with this hand). There was no way I could have touched her with this hand. Those who saw me in person know this.”

Robiul said, “I cannot say who touched her (Pori Moni). Her own security personnel were with her in that lift.”

After the hearing, Pori Moni secured bail on a bond of Tk 500. However, the situation became tense again as she left the court.

Journalists alleged that Pori Moni's security personnel pushed them. At one point, Pori Moni approached journalist Robiul Hossain, called him over and hurled abusive language at him. Witnesses alleged that people accompanying her also engaged in heated exchanges with journalists.

Describing the situation as they left the court, Robiul told Prothom Alo that one of the people accompanying Pori Moni (later identified as Turan Munshi) first asked him about touching her in the lift. Pori Moni then approached him herself.

Robiul told Prothom Alo, “She (Pori Moni) was hurling abusive language at me. As she was leaving, she threatened to kill me. Everything that was done to me at that time is on video. Everyone has seen it.”

Journalists were not the only ones injured in the scuffle at the court premises that day; a person who had come to court seeking justice was also injured. The man, named Sujan Chandra Mani Das, sustained a head injury that left him bleeding. His brother alleged that he was injured after being pushed by Pori Moni's security personnel.

Besides, Jago News reporter Ashikuzzaman and multimedia reporter Abdullah Al Kawsar, Agamir Shomoy reporter Siam Hossain, and Shah Riaz of Times Today were injured. Some of the injured journalists also received treatment at hospitals.

The Digital Reporters Forum (DRF) has condemned the incident. In a press release sent out last Thursday, the organisation said allegations had emerged that film actress Pori Moni behaved discourteously towards journalists, hurled abusive language at them and harassed them at the Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Court premises. Subsequently, allegations were also received that her personal security personnel assaulted, pushed and beat journalists and ordinary people who had come to court seeking justice.

The DRF strongly condemned and protested the injury and harassment of at least five journalists while performing their professional duties.

In its statement, the organisation further said that, as an actress, Pori Moni obstructing journalists from performing their professional duties at an important and sensitive place like a court, behaving discourteously towards them or allowing her security personnel to harass them was in no way acceptable. It also said the injury of ordinary people who had come to court was a matter of grave concern.

The DRF believes that such behaviour towards journalists is not only an attack on their professional dignity but also a threat to the environment necessary for independent journalism and the media to perform their duties.

It has demanded a fair and impartial investigation into the allegations against Pori Moni and her security personnel, identification of those responsible and legal action against them.