Stop sexual harassment

People from all walks of life joined a human chain in the town yesterday protesting recent incidents of sexual harassment in the district. 

Network for Preventing Sexual Harassment, Pabna, organised the human chain and a protest meeting in front of Pabna Press Club in the morning.

A 15-year-old schoolgirl of Sujanagar municipality area in Pabna was gang-raped while an 11-year-old girl was sexually harassed by a neighbour on Thursday.

Criminals also gang-raped a housewife in Sujanagar upazila on Wednesday night.

The incidents sparked agitation among locals.

“Many of the victims are sexually harassed by their known people. It means women in our society are not safe even within their own surroundings,” said Kamrunnahar Joly, president of Network for Preventing Sexual Harassment in Pabna.

All the people in the society have the responsibility to ensure an environment where women can safely move in the society alongside the males, she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Hasina Akter Rosy, headmaster of Selim Nazir High School, said the criminals dare to commit the crime repeatedly as offenders often go unpunished.

“Social awareness is a must to ensure the safety of women. If we fail to do so, we won't be able to get a healthy society,” Rosy said.

She demanded exemplary punishments of the rapists.

Among others, NGO personality Abdur Rob Montu, theatre artiste Kobad Hossain and journalist Kamal Ahmed Siddique spoke on the occasion.

They urged for combined efforts to stop sexual harassment for the sake of social security.

Students from different educational institutions joined the protest programme.