Teenage girl's cricket dream dashed

A teenage girl will probably no longer pursue her dream of becoming a cricketer as the man she trusted to guide her allegedly attempted to rape her inside a room of the Dinajpur Sport Village complex on June 1.

According to the victim's family, she was keen on becoming a cricketer. And so, three and a half years ago, her parents allowed her to enrol in Promila Cricketers, an initiative of the Bangladesh Cricket Board to attract more female players.

Sadly however, her dream came crashing down when the coach allegedly tried to force himself on her.

The coach in question has been identified as Abu Samad Mithu, an appointed coach of the BCB who runs the Prochesta Cricket Coaching Centre in Dinajpur town. Mithu is also an executive member of Dinajpur District Sports Association (DSA).

According to the victim, the incident took place in a first aid room after she was injured during practice at the DInajpur Gor-E-Shohid Boromath.

“After hearing about it, I rang Mithu's phone. Without any hesitation he replied he kissed my daughter's leg,” the father said. “Her dream to be a cricketer is now gone, dashed. He attempted to rape my daughter.”

The father also claimed that Mithu is now mobilising the community's influential individuals to 'manage' and subvert the parents.

The victim, a 15-year-old girl of class nine, even broke down emotionally as Mithu repeatedly threatened the family of dire consequences should the incident be leaked, alleged the parents.

In a demand for justice, the father issued a letter to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dinajpur, who is also the president of the Dinajpur DSA, informing him of the incident on June 14.

The father also said that he sat with other DSA members to discuss the issue but to no avail.  However, the DC office assured him that they are seriously looking into the matter.

When contacted, Mithu asserted that it is a conspiracy to destroy his carrier as a coach.