A youth named Farukul Islam has been taken into custody by the Detective Branch (DB) of the police in Cox’s Bazar for allegedly abusing a young woman on the beach. The incident involves the young woman being made to do squats while holding her ears and being beaten.
The DB informed that Farukul Islam, from Satkania, Chattogram, was taken into their custody late on the night of September 13 for questioning. The police have yet to officially arrest him.
The incident came to light when a video showing the abuse went viral on social media on September 13. The video depicts a woman being forced to do squats while holding her ears and being beaten with a stick at the Sugandha Point of Cox’s Bazar beach. Onlookers are seen standing around, watching the scene unfold.
In addition to this video, two more videos have surfaced on Facebook. One shows a group of youths forcing a woman sitting on a chair to leave the beach, using threats of violence. In another video, a terrified woman is seen at a tourist police booth at the ‘Kadai’ restaurant, pleading for her phone and apologizing to the crowd, claiming she will leave if her phone is returned.
The circulation of these videos has sparked outrage and condemnation on social media. Some have defended the perpetrators, citing moral policing or discrimination, while others criticize the rise of mob culture and self-styled vigilantes taking the law into their own hands.