Police have detained a 35-year-old graphics designer, Khalid Hasan, for allegedly assaulting a mentally ill pedestrian on the pavement in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area.
Following the incident, Dhanmondi Police Station Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Abdul Hai was withdrawn from his post on charges of negligence of duty after failing to intervene while present at the scene.
Khalid was detained from Dhanmondi Meena Bazar area around 11:45am on Wednesday.
Dhanmondi Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Muhammad Imdadul Islam Tayeb said Khalid was produced before the Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court of DMP’s Ramna Zone later in the day.
According to the OC, the incident occurred on Monday afternoon on the pavement opposite the private Bangladesh Eye Hospital on Satmasjid Road in Dhanmondi.
The victim was identified as Shaheed Abdullah Al Masud alias Masud Rana, 48, who suffers from mental illness.
Khalid, an employee at a private firm, allegedly slapped, kicked, and forced Abdullah to do sit-ups while holding his ears following allegations that Abdullah had harassed a 23-year-old woman earlier that afternoon.
The assault came to light after a 2-minute and 12-second video clip went viral on social media, sparking widespread criticism. While the alleged harassment generated discussion, the physical assault became the primary focus of public outrage.
In the video footage, an enraged youth is seen shouting abuse, slapping, and kicking the victim as a crowd of pedestrians gathers to watch and film the scene on mobile phones.
Snippets of conversation among bystanders in the video include remarks such as “He touched a girl”, “This happened at the canteen”, and “Don’t you have a mother or sister?”
The video shows a pedestrian approaching the victim and instructing him to hand himself over to two police personnel present at the location.
As the victim stood up from the pavement, a pedestrian and the youth seized his mobile phone and subjected him to questioning.
When the victim attempted to apologise, the youth aggressively retorted, “What sorry? Does saying sorry end everything?”, adding, “You touched a mother’s body,” before striking him again.
Throughout the encounter, two police officers were seen standing just a few paces away on the footpath, watching the assault unfold alongside the crowd.
Addressing the police response, OC Imdadul confirmed that ASI Hai, who was assigned duty at the spot, was withdrawn from the police station.
He added that the other two officers present belonged to Public Order Management (the riot control division) and that he had no information regarding any departmental measures concerning them.
