Are we the offenders for defending ourselves, woman asks

A 23-year-old woman who alleges that she was sexually harassed in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area has said police at the scene did not help her, forcing her to call a relative for protection. When the relative confronted the man accused of harassing her and assaulted him, police detained the relative, who was later sentenced to 15 days in jail.

“Then are we the ones who have committed a crime by trying to protect myself?” the woman asked.

She made the remarks in a written message sent to Prothom Alo on Wednesday night. She said she had also posted the same statement on social media.

Police detained her relative, Khalid Hasan, 35, on Wednesday afternoon over his alleged involvement in the assault of a man on a footpath in Dhanmondi. He was later produced before the Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna zone, which sentenced him to 15 days in jail.

On Monday afternoon, Khalid had allegedly assaulted Shahid Abdullah Al Masud, also known as Masud Rana, 48, and forced him to perform sit-ups while holding his ears. The incident took place opposite Bangladesh Eye Hospital on Satmasjid Road in Dhanmondi, following allegations of sexual harassment. Later, Dhanmondi police detained Shahid Abdullah, who was sentenced to one month in jail by the DMP’s Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

A video of the assault went viral on social media, triggering widespread discussion and criticism. Questions were also raised about the role of two police officers present at the scene.

Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Abdul Hai of Dhanmondi police station has already been withdrawn from his workplace over allegations of negligence of duty.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on Wednesday, Dhanmondi police station Officer-in-Charge Muhammad Imdadul Islam Taiyeb said Abdul Hai had some responsibilities at the scene. He had been withdrawn from the station. The other two police personnel present belonged to the Public Order Management unit, he said, adding that he had no information about their cases.

In her statement, the woman said she was married. She referred to a recently circulated video showing a middle-aged man abusing and assaulting an older man. The older man, she said, had touched a relative of the man carrying out the assault inappropriately. She said she was the person who had been sexually harassed and that her relative had confronted the man over the unwanted touching.

The woman said she had remained silent until now because she did not want to appear in the media as a married woman or face disruption to her daily life. But she could no longer remain silent, she said, because people were blaming her relative and demanding punishment without knowing or understanding the full circumstances.

She said media coverage had added to her suffering and that she was now seeking help from the media.

“When a woman’s dignity is violated and the law does not help her, whom should she turn to?” she asked.

Referring to the two police officers visible in the video, the woman said she initially took the older man to law enforcement officers and demanded action against him. Police told her to file a case, she said, but at the time she was occupied with caring for a patient at a hospital.

She questioned whether it was reasonable to expect her to go and file a case in the middle of such a situation.

The woman said she and her relative repeatedly urged the older man to go to the police station, but he refused. Seeing that the officers on duty were taking no action, her relative eventually resorted to physical force in an attempt to protect her, she said.

Her relative has now been detained and sentenced to 15 days in jail for assaulting the man, she added.

“Then are we the ones who have committed a crime by trying to protect myself?” she asked again.

The woman also posed a series of questions to the public. She said the police officers on duty had not provided immediate assistance, leaving her no choice but to call a relative for protection. Was it wrong to take steps to ensure her own safety, she asked.

Her relative had stood up for her, she said, warning that a similar incident could happen to someone else in the future. Would people not seek to protect their own family members in such circumstances?

She said she had never expected to face harassment or humiliation after the incident. Why, then, had she been forced to go to the police station and court? Why had her relative been sentenced to 15 days in jail? Was protecting her his crime, she asked.

The woman said she had been told that the older man was suffering from a mental illness. But even if he had a mental health condition, she asked, did that give him the right to touch her inappropriately? Did that mean he was not responsible for his actions?

If the person accused of the offence had received a one-month jail sentence, she questioned, should the person who protested against the offence also be sentenced to 15 days in prison? Where, then, was her safety?

She said she was both the victim of the incident and someone who had subsequently faced harassment and humiliation. She questioned whether people could no longer protest against wrongdoing.

“Why should a woman have to face questions over her own dignity and safety?” she asked. “What have I done wrong? Is being born a woman itself a crime?”

She also questioned whether the person who commits an offence and the person who suffers it should be treated as equally guilty. What happened to her today, she said, could happen to other women in the future. Would people still blame those who stood up for them?

The woman said she had contacted the person who first posted the video on social media by phone and message, asking them to remove it for her safety. However, that person was unwilling to do so, she said.

She added that Dhanmondi police had arrived after the incident and arrested the older man. She had repeatedly told officers that she did not want to face further harassment, and they had assured her that she would be protected.

“Then why have I had to go through all this?” she asked.

The woman said she now felt as though she were the offender because her relative was being punished for trying to protect her. “Is this what justice under the law looks like?” she asked.

She said she had been enduring mental anguish since the incident and was appealing to the public for support. She did not want anyone to be punished for standing up for her, she said, and asked what she should do now and how she could protect her relative.

She also sought help for other people who might find themselves in similar circumstances.