Jubo Dal leaders and activists beat a young woman feeding stray dogs in Banasree

Staff Reporter

A young woman named Sumaiya Rahman has been accused of beating and harassing a local man while feeding a stray dog ​​in Banasree, Dhaka.

Locals said that Mainul, Shuvo and Halim, who were involved in the attack, are associated with the politics of the Rampura Police Station Jubo Dal.

Sumaiya alleged that on Tuesday night, while feeding a dog in Lal Mia Lane, Road No. 8/3, F Block, Banasree, she had an argument with some locals. At one point, she was punched and kicked.

Sumaiya, a resident of Banasree in the capital and working in a private company, showed signs of injury on various parts of her body when she spoke to this reporter in Banasree on Wednesday evening. There were bruises under her eyes and on her face. Some parts of her hands were also blackened.

Sumaiya said, “The dogs like me a lot. Whenever I walk down the street, they follow me. Because I feed them regularly. Yesterday too, when I went to feed them in that alley, I got into an argument with some locals. At one point, they started hitting, punching, and kicking me.”

He alleged that he was feeding some dogs in front of a clothing store on Lal Mia Street around 10 pm on Tuesday. When the dogs climbed the stairs of the store, a 10- to 12-year-old boy inside the store asked him to move away. As it was a little late, another person inside the store asked him to move away.

Sumaiya said the teenager abused her in bad language. When she protested, a young man aged between 20 and 22 came out and punched her in the face. She alleged that the young man later gathered more people from the surrounding area.

According to Sumaiya, around 50 to 60 people gathered there and beat and abused her. She was harassed for about half an hour.

“They beat me badly. They hit me the most on the back. I somehow managed to escape from that area to save my life,” Sumaiya said.

A small entrepreneur named Asif Imtiaz was with Sumaiya at the time of the incident. He also fed stray dogs in the Banasree area.

Asif said that while Sumaiya was feeding the dog, a teenage boy from the shop first asked them to leave. They said they would leave in two minutes, but the locals asked them to leave immediately. He said that Sumaiya was later beaten up.

Asif said that during the incident, he went to seek help from someone he knew. However, when he did not receive any help, he quickly left the scene with Sumaiya. He claimed that he could have been beaten up too.

On Wednesday afternoon, when we went to Lal Mia Alley, we found that the clothing store in front of which the incident took place was closed. Several nearby shops were also closed. Some locals refused to talk about the incident.

A local man named Nur Hossain said that a woman was beaten up around 10 pm on Tuesday.

He claimed that Sumaiya was dirtying the shop premises while feeding the dog. After stopping her, he abused the shop owner in bad language.

Another local person, who asked not to be named, claimed that the person who first hit Sumaiya was named Shuvo. He is an associate of two local brothers, Mainul and Halim, and Halim’s brother-in-law. The person also claimed that Shuvo originally ran the clothing store.

According to the person, Shuvo gathered 50 to 60 people from the neighborhood and harassed and beat Sumaiya for about 30 minutes.

Locals said that Mainul, Shuvo and Halim are associated with the politics of the Rampura Police Station Jubo Dal.

After the beating, Sumaiya sought treatment at Mugda Medical College Hospital on Wednesday morning. She said that her jaw was badly injured. The doctor, after providing initial treatment, advised her to get an X-ray.

Sumaiya filed a complaint with Khilgaon Police Station on Wednesday regarding the incident. After the complaint, a police team accompanied her to inspect Lal Mia Goli in the afternoon.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Azharul Islam, who was part of the police team, said, “We visited the area with the victim. But the victim could not identify who attacked him.”

He said, “The victim was beaten. However, it is not yet clear who was involved. None of the locals are admitting to the incident. We are still investigating. We are trying to understand the real incident. The accused and the victim are scheduled to sit down again tomorrow. The real incident may come out there.”

Police said that efforts are underway to identify the people involved in the incident through investigation.