'2 girls attacked over smoking': What happened in capital's Lalmatia
Around 5:30pm yesterday (1 March), a commotion broke out right near the NHA Tower in the capital's Lalmatia.
It began when a 60-year-old resident allegedly asked two around twenty-year-old girls, sitting on chairs on a footpath, to get up from there.
The girls, who were customers at a nearby tea stall, then asked why they should move.
The irate elderly man – who some residents claim has political connections – then ordered the tea stall owner to remove all the chairs.
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He then allegedly shouted expletives at the young girls. At one point of the verbal onslaught, one of the girls was said to have thrown the tea at the man.
He then grabbed her hair and began to strike her, eyewitnesses said.
Some men from nearby joined in, berating the girls. When two passersby tried to help, they were also reportedly beaten up by the gathered crowd.
In time, police arrived at the scene.
The elderly man claimed to those gathered that the girls were smoking marijuana, although they denied this, saying they were only smoking cigarettes.
Speaking to The Business Standard, Deputy Commissioner of Tejgaon division of police Md Ibne Mizan, said police arrived after news of the scuffle reached them.
He said the two female students were harassed over smoking in the area.
They went to the scene and rescued the students and took them to Mohammadpur Police Station.
Later, the matter was resolved after talking to both parties and the two students were released in the custody of their families, said the police official.
According to a Facebook post today detailing the victims' account, a post said after the two girls were surrounded by the mob, the harassment continued.
According to the post, the two girls were slapped and punched by 10-12 men, who also videoed the incident.
It further claimed that the mob took their phones when they went on Live on Facebook and deleted the video.
"We called 999. After that, the police arrived…Even in the presence of the police, they could not be subdued. In the face of a mob attack, the police took us to Mohammadpur Police Station in their custody," one of the friends of the victims said.
