A father pays with his life
Another death of a father at the hands of an eve teaser and his accomplices only shows that we have failed to prevent the spread of the societal malady of girl teasing and harassment, which often times have resulted in the death of those who dared to protest. This time a father in Barisal, himself a school teacher and a freedom fighter, was brutally killed in public by the alleged teaser.
And the murder highlights a few things, the role of the police, of their apparent inaction, being one thing that comes into sharp scrutiny. Harassment of the girl has been going on for sometime as we understand, and a complaint was registered in this regard with the police sometime in August this year. Apparently, the police did not take any action against the culprits since, as reported, they had been harassing the daughter and even threatening to kidnap her even after a GD was filed.
The contradictory reports from the police that we are getting are also disconcerting. While the Kaunia Police says that they had sent the GD to Kotwali police for enquiry the latter says that they have received no such GD at all. And the statement of the Barisal Police Commissioner that an enquiry has been launched as to why the police had not taken action on the GD, and that the erring policeman would be taken to task comes as little comfort to the family of the deceased. The killing also shows that we as a society have not drummed up enough courage to stand up to these ruffians.
Teasing and harassment have assumed an endemic form which nothing but a collective social resistance can cure. And there is need to look at the existing law in this regard to make it more stringent.
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