The High Court (HC) Sunday issued an 18-point directive determining what to do in case of sexual harassment.
The court said a law has to be enacted following the 18-point directive, and until the enactment of law, the 18-point directive will be the guideline.
According to the directive, to whatever police station a victim goes to file a case over sexual harassment, the police station must take the case. The incident cannot be avoided just because the incident occurred outside the police station area.
Women rights activists and lawyers expressed their satisfaction over the HC verdict.
The HC also instructed the government to include a clause in the to be enacted law, so that action can be taken against any police official if he delays to take any case of sexual harassment without any particular reason.
A HC bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Quazi Md Izarul Huq delivered the verdict after hearing a writ on February 18, 2016 issued a rule in this regard.
The writ was filed by five human rights organisations, including Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) and BLAST, over the dillydallying of several police stations in taking a case of sexual harassment of Garo woman after she was brutally gang-raped in the capital on May 21, 2015.
Full text of that May 21 verdict was published with the 18-point directive on Sunday.
Sultana Kamal, former executive director of ASK and an eminent human rights activist, while contacted over the issue told the Bangla tribune: “To file a case over the issue of sexual harassment is still a taboo in our society. It is still a challenge. And when a woman goes to a police station ignoring such social barrier, she faces further harassment at the PS, as in most cases they don’t want to take any case. We hope the HC directives will put a stop to such bad practice.”