Three launch staffers arrested for ‘sexually harassing’ girl on board

A teenage girl jumped off a Dhaka-bound launch to save herself from sexual harassment allegedly by a number of the staffers on board, according to UNB.

Amid growing criticism on social media over this, police on Monday morning detained three staffers of the launch. However, till Monday night no cases were filed over the incident, says the news agency.

The 16-year-old is from Teliar Char of Tazumuddin, Bhola.

According to the victim, she boarded Dhaka-bound launch MV Karnaphuli-13 from Tazmuddin sluice ghat around 6:00pm on Saturday, but she had to jump midway and swim ashore to escape the abuse of a number of staffers.

“They proposed me to spend the night with them in a cabin,” she said.

Fearing they would force on her she jumped into the river, she said.

A number of staffers of the launch threw a buoy down to rescue her, but she failed to grab it before the launch left the spot, she added.

She was finally rescued by some fishermen 'after three hours' and was taken to a hospital in Tazumuddin.

Md Rubel, supervisor of the launch, said they tried to rescue the girl but failed, and then left for Dhaka.

SM Jiaul Haque, officer-in-charge of Tazumuddin police station, said they took the victim under their custody on Sunday night.

Later, police arrested three staffers of the launch -- Shakil, 18, Gias Uddin, 29, and Shakil, 19, -- from Tazumuddin area on Monday morning.

One of the three detained claimed the girl stole valuables from her employer’s residence and had recently fled Dhaka, said the OC.