Assault victim, mother, two brothers over protest
A group of stalkers beat up an eighth-grader, her mother and two brothers for protesting harassment of the girl at Kalachandpur of the city’s Gulshan Sunday night.
Police detained two persons including one of the alleged stalkers Jamal in this connection.
The injured are Bipasha Rani Barman, 14, student of Kalachandpur High School, her mother Subhashi Rani Barman, 47, and brothers Niranjan Chandra Barman, 26, and Subal Chandra Barman, 22.
The injured were first rushed to a local hospital and later treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
DMCH sources said the condition of Bipasha was the worst. She was very weak and could not speak properly. Subal said she could not take a class test yesterday due to the injuries.
Daughter of fish trader Nitai Chandra Barman, Bipasha lives in a rented house at Kalachandpur Sarker Bari with her family.
Subhashi told The Daily Star yesterday that six youths including detained Jamal were hanging around in front of their house around 10:00pm on Sunday when she and her daughter were returning home from a drugstore.
While they were passing by, one of the youths threw a burning cigarette at Bipasha which Subhashi protested. Sending Bipasha home, she gave the youths a piece of her mind.
At this, two of the stalkers held her by the left hand and injured it while another slapped her on the face.
As she screamed, Bipasha came into the scene to her aid. According to her, one of the youths then swooped on her. He caught her by the throat, slapped her, beat her with a stick. Then holding her by the hair he banged her head against a wall.
Bipasha’s two brothers who came in rescue of their mother and sister were also given a severe beating.
Hearing call for help, locals gathered at the place, but the youths managed to flee the scene.
On information, Gulshan police raided the area and detained Jamal. They also detained Muhit, father of another alleged stalker Kamal.
Subal said the youths had been harassing his sister for the last three months.
Meanwhile, detained Jamal claimed that he was innocent and that he was not involved in the assault. According to him, he was passing by the spot when the incident took place and he paused there for a while noticing the chaos.
During a visit at the scene last night, the members of the victim family informed The Daily Star that they have settled the matter with the youths through arbitration.
However, locals said Bipasha’s family came to a compromise thinking of their safety and business in the locality. They demanded punishment to the alleged stalkers.
Gulshan zone Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Khandker Lutful Kabir confirmed The Daily Star about the detentions and said that they were investigating the matter.
Police kept the detainees under custody till filing of the report at 12:45am.
About two years ago, two stalkers had shot dead the parents of another student of the same school as the family refused their marriage proposal for their daughter. It created panic among locals over protesting harassment of girls in the area.
-With The Daily Star input
