Cop who harassed woman for wearing bindi identified: OC
The policeman who harassed a woman, Lata Samaddar, for wearing bindi (teep) has been identified, the law enforcement said.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station’s officer-in-charge Uttam Barua said the accused policeman is Nazmul Tareq. He works at the security department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
DMP Tejgaon zone’s deputy commissioner Bipob Sarker confirmed about identifying the policeman.
A female teacher of Tejgaon College in Dhaka was harassed in broad daylight by a policeman in the capital’s Farmgate area on Saturday.
Lata, a lecturer of theatre and media studies department at the Tejgaon College, was passing by the policeman at Shezan Point in the area.
“When I was walking towards the college, a middle-aged bearded man hurled abuse at me saying ‘Why are you wearing a teep?’ I turned around and found the man sitting on a motorcycle in police uniform,” she said in a complaint lodged with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station.
According to the complaint, when she approached the policeman and protested the abuse, he left the area running his motorbike over her toe.
Lata Samaddar also mentioned that the abuse hurled by the policeman was not worth repeating.
Soon after the incident, a shocked Lata went to three traffic policemen who were on duty just on the opposite side of the road. When she disclosed her ordeal, they advised her to lodge a complaint with police, according to Lata.
The incident sparked a huge outcry among various sections of people.
A protest rally was organised on Sunday while different women's rights organisations extended solidarity with Lata Samaddar and asked the authorities to identify the policeman and bring him to book.
Ruling Awami-league (AL) parliamentarian Suborna Mustafa also expressed her wrath in the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) on Sunday over the incident.
The noted actress asked, “Is there any clause in the constitution and the law that a woman will not be allowed to wear bindi on her forehead?”