Woman who said ‘voted for BNP govt, now suffering’ in Facebook Live shown arrested
Police have sent a woman business owner in Bhaluka of Mymensingh to court after showing her arrested under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The woman business owner was detained amid tensions involving local BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) leaders and activists after expressing anger against the incumbent government in a Facebook Live broadcast.
She was sent to the Mymensingh Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Monday afternoon.
However, police have said that they found no anti-government remarks after reviewing the woman's Facebook Live video.
Bhaluka model police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Zahidul Islam told Prothom Alo over the mobile phone that he had reviewed the woman's entire Facebook Live video four times.
They found no anti-government remarks or anything critical of the government in it. Such remarks fall within her freedom of speech. The incident originated from rumours because people did not watch the full video, the OC added.
The OC said that after the video was circulated, the woman behaved aggressively towards several traders at the market when they went to speak to her. This created a tense situation. For this reason, she was shown arrested under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and sent to court.
The market traders have assured her that she will face no problems running her business after securing bail and being released, he added.
At around 2:00pm on Sunday, Sathi Akter, 30, went live twice on Facebook from an account named ‘Sathi Makeover’. She owns ‘Sathi Beauty Parlour’, located at Khadija Palace Market in the Square Masterbari area of Bhaluka upazila.
In two videos, lasting 5 minutes and 22 seconds and 8 minutes and 8 seconds, respectively, Sathi Akter was seen expressing anger over a theft at her business establishment. At one point, she was heard saying, “We voted for the BNP government, and now we are the ones suffering.”
After the video went viral, local BNP leaders and activists surrounded her business establishment and demanded justice. As tensions escalated over the incident, police took Sathi Akter into custody at around 8:30 pm.
Mymensingh court police inspector Mustasinur Rahman said Section 151 of the CrPC is essentially a preventive measure taken by police. If police suspect that someone is planning to commit a cognisable offence, they can arrest that person to prevent the offence. In such cases, police themselves become the complainant and take the necessary legal steps.
The court inspector said the judge would decide whether the woman would be granted bail after reviewing the forwarding report submitted by police along with her to the court.
After examining the report, the judge may grant her bail or reject the bail plea, he added.