A college teacher in Dhaka’s Siddheshwari area narrowly escaped a mugging attempt when a group coming by a car tried to snatch her handbag in broad daylight.
The attackers, who arrived in a private car, dragged the woman a short distance with the vehicle as she clung to her bag.
A video of the incident, captured on surveillance footage, has gone viral on social media, causing widespread shock.
The footage shows a woman standing in front of Siddheshwari’s Greenland Tower with a trolley bag and a handbag. A white private car suddenly pulls up in front of her. A man seated in the front passenger seat lowers the window, reaches out, and grabs her handbag, attempting to snatch it.
As she resists, the car drags her along for some distance. Bystanders rushed to help, prompting the attackers to flee.
According to police, the victim has been identified as Farhana Akter Jahan (34), a resident of Greenland Tower in Siddheshwari and a lecturer at Bangabandhu Government College in Gazipur.
She was leaving home on Saturday morning to attend a training session at her college when the attack occurred. The incident left her with serious injuries to her hand.
Golam Faruq, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Ramna Police Station, said, “We became aware of the incident after the video went viral on social media and are currently investigating.”
Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna Division, added, “Although the victim has not formally filed a complaint, we are taking the matter seriously. We have confirmed that the incident took place at 5:45 AM on Saturday.”
Police stated that they are using the CCTV footage to try to identify the gang involved.