Habiganj schoolgirl assaulter held after outrage

Police this afternoon detained the youth who slapped a schoolgirl in Habiganj Sadar which was captured on video, creating mass outrage on social media platforms.

Ruhul Amin, Class-XI student of Habiganj High School, was picked up from Richigram in the upazila, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent, quoting Habiganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Nizam Uddin.

People from different walks of life came down heavily on social media following the footage that showed the high school girl being beaten by Ruhul.

Locals of Habiganj formed human chain at Saifur Rahman Town Hall of Habiganj, protesting the incident.

The incident took place on August 26, 2015 and drew public attention yesterday through a 31-second footage, shared on social media Facebook.

The video shows Ruhul blocking the class-VIII girl of Habiganj Girls High School on Rajnagar Etimkhana road and repeatedly slapping her.

The assaulter’s friend Polash, a staff of a shoe shop took the video during the incident and spread it among his friends.

Feeling ashamed, the victim stopped going school two days after the incident spread out in the locality.

Ruhul stays at his maternal grandfather’s house in the Sadar upazila, according to our correspondent.

As the footage swept in the social media, people called upon the law enforcers to trace him and bring to book.

Shamima Akhtar Chowdhury, head mistress of the girls’ school said the victim’s guardian did not complain about the matter. “Several eve teasers were detained by the law enforcers after we reported such incident to the police.”

She demanded exemplary punishment of the assaulter.

Meanwhile, Ruhul’s mother Esha Khatun said the girl’s brother beaten up her son earlier for teasing. “So he (Ruhul) took revenge.”