BCL man who threatened to rape doctor gets bail
Doctors and interns of all medical colleges, hospitals, and clinics in Sylhet abstained from work for two hours yesterday, demanding punishment of a Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader who threatened to kill and rape one of their female colleagues on Thursday.
The work stoppage was observed from 11am to 1pm, at Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital, MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital, Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College and Hospital, North-East Medical College and Hospital, and Park View Medical College and Hospital.
However, emergency services remained open.
The protestors also held a human chain at Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar, suspended private practice from 4-6pm, and submitted a memorandum to the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), civil surgeon, deputy director of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), police commissioner, and deputy commissioner.
Meanwhile, the BCL man, Sarwar Hossain Chowdhury, who was sued for intimidating the doctor, got out of police custody three hours after his arrest yesterday. Sarwar is vice-president of Sylhet’s Dakshin Surma upazila unit of BCL.
On Thursday evening, he took a patient to Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital with some 15 followers and asked the female doctor to treat the patient in their presence. When the doctor requested them to wait outside and facilitate the treatment, he flew into a rage and started shouting.
In a video, Sarwar was seen threatening to kill and rape the female doctor. He also identified himself as president of Sylhet district unit of BCL.
In protest of the incident, the hospital interns observed a daylong strike on Saturday and formed a human chain the next day. On Monday night, the hospital director, Dr Ferdous Hasan, filed a case with Kotwali Police Station, accusing Sarwar and 8-10 unknown people of threatening to kill and rape the female doctor.
Asked about Sarwar’s release yesterday, Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station Selim Miah said, “We had arrested the BCL leader but we let him go as he took advance bail from Sylhet chief metropolitan magistrate’s court.”
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