Stalkers at bay after two accused arrested

Stalkers are hardly seen in the streets of Bhandaria upazila of Pirojpur as police promptly arrested two delinquents including the main accused in the case for instigating the suicide of schoolgirl Rukaiya Rupa.               

“After the tragic death of Rupa, 15, a Class X student of Bandar Government Girls’ High School in Bhandaria on August 30, we rarely see any stalker active. We hope no such incident would occur again,” said Sanjeeb Kumar Halder, headmaster of the school.

Main accused Tamim Khan and second accused Ryan have been taken under remand for seven days and two days respectively through the court for interrogation, said Hyatul Islam Khan, superintendent of police in Pirojpur.

“To check stalking, we arrange community policing and discussion with the teachers, guardians and students at different schools regularly. We have opened a women and children safety cell comprising female officers at the district headquarters to give support to the victims,” he said.

“If the guardians are not aware about what their children do and the misuse of digital devices like mobile phone is not stopped, it is difficult for the police alone to stop social crimes like stalking,” he said. 

Liakat Hossain Talukder, guardian of a student at Bandar Government Girls’ High School, urged law enforcers to become more active for a stalker-free Bhandaria.

Many of the stalkers are drug addicts and they dare to become reckless due to backing by political people, several locals said, adding that they are especially worried about teenagers’ involvement in stalking.

“Social degradation and teenagers’ involvement with politics are the main reasons of stalking. We arrange programmes like human chains to make people aware about the social menace,” said Mainul Ahsan Munna, general secretary of NGO Supro’s Pirojpur district unit.

Allegedly harassed by stalker Tamim Khan who also threatened to spread a doctored obscene photo in the social media on August 30, Rupa informed her mother of the matter and took a number of sleeping pills at night.

She died under treatment at Barishal the next morning.

Rupa’s father Ruhul Amin Munshi filed a case with Bhandaria Police Station accusing five named ones including Tamim and four to five unnamed youths for instigating Rupa to kill self.