Videos show UP member publicly hitting girl with a shoe in Jashore
A video clip showing a union parishad member (UP) beating a girl with a shoe in front of a crowd in Jashore is making rounds on the social media platform Facebook.
In another video clip, several men were seen hitting the soles of her feet with a stick while several others held her legs down.
The victim is from Jashore’s sadar upazila while the UP member facing the allegation is Anisur Rahman, member of ward no. 7 of Churamonkathi union parishad of the upazila.
The incident took place on the evening of 16 March and two video clips of the incidents started making rounds on Facebook on 18 March.
UP member Anisur Rahman went into hiding following the release of the video clips.
Following the incident, the girl’s father filed a case against four people including UP member Anisur Rahman and several unidentified persons with Jashore Kotwali police station around 12:00am on Saturday.
Police arrested another accused Bhutto at night.
According to case statement, the girl was returning home on a bicycle with a local youth from a waz mahfil (religious gathering) in the evening.
When they arrived at the intersection of Abdulpur village, UP member Anisur Rahman and several others held them hostage on allegations of immoral activities and then beat them with shoes and sticks in front of several hundred people.
Hearing the news, the parents of the girl rescued her and admitted her to Jashore General Hospital.
In one video, UP member Anisur Rahman was seen beating the girl indiscriminately in front of more than a 100 people. At one stage, the girl collapsed and the several youths were seen kicking her. The UP member and several other people were also seen indiscriminately beating the youth who was accompanying the girl.
In another video, several youths were seen holding her hand and legs down while followers of the UP member including Ayub, Bhutto, Abdul Alim were seen beating her hands and the soles of her feet. They were also seen torturing the youth who accompanied the girl.
Churamonkathi UP chairman Daud Hossain confirmed the incident. He, however, said, ”It is true UP member Anisur Rahman tortured the girl but she is not a good girl.”
Regarding the incident, officer-in-charge (OC) of Jahsore Kowtali model police station said the girl’s father filed a case and one of the accused was arrested.