We applaud the prime minister's decision to ask State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murad Hassan to resign from the cabinet for his offensive and derogatory remarks towards women. In a country where resignations of public officials—no matter the offences they commit—are a rarity, this swift action goes a long way towards demonstrating the prime minister's commitment to upholding the rights of women and challenging misogyny even when it generates from her own party and cabinet.

Not only did Murad use sexist, racist and belligerent language unbefitting a public official against Khaleda Zia and her granddaughter in an interview and publicly humiliate a model during an event, he went so far as to threaten sexual violence against an actress when she refused to respond to his unwanted advances. He even warned her that he would use law enforcement officials against her. The fact that a cabinet member would misuse his power—and that of the state—so blatantly to intimidate a woman is appalling and unacceptable, to say the least, and calls into serious question the morality and sense of responsibility of those entrusted with running the country.

It is clear from the video and audio clips that have surfaced on social media that Murad's immorality and misogyny were not isolated incidents. It begs the question: how many more women did he threaten, and how far did he actually go with them? How many times and to what extent did he misuse state machineries? We can all agree that his actions were repulsive, but more importantly, were they also criminal? Did he commit crimes against women, confident that he would get away with it because of his post?

Though timely and in itself a big step towards holding MPs and cabinet members accountable for their actions, resignation can only be the beginning of his castigation. There needs to be serious investigation into the accusations of his misuse of power to harass, humiliate and attempt to rape women, and exemplary action must be taken against him to send a clear message to all concerned that such revolting behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances.