In a chilling reminder of Bangladesh’s deteriorating rule of law and the rising tide of violence against women, two young men on a motorcycle attempted to abduct a 30-year-old female police constable on Tuesday night as she walked home alone from duty in Juri upazila of Moulvibazar.
The incident occurred around 8 pm near the West Juri Union Parishad office in the Harirampur area of the upazila headquarters. The constable, who serves at Juri Police Station, was not in uniform at the time. Her husband, also a constable at the same station, said she frequently walks home alone after duty. The couple rent a house near the Union Parishad office.
According to her husband, one of the youths suddenly grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth, while his companion waited on a motorcycle nearby. The attackers then tried to drag her toward a dark, vacant stretch beside the road. She began screaming, forcing the two men to flee toward the railway station. Nothing was snatched from her.
A local BNP leader, Emdadul Haque, whose house is close to the spot, told Prothom Alo that he and his wife rushed out after hearing the screams, along with other neighbors. They recognized the officer. Other police personnel later arrived at the scene.
Juri Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Rafiqul Islam said the area was dark. CCTV footage from nearby cameras showed two young men on a motorcycle. One of them was seen following the constable on foot. Moments later, local people were seen running toward the spot. Police are treating the incident as an attempted snatching for now and are working to identify and arrest the two youths.
The attack on a serving female police officer—while she was simply walking home from the station—underscores how brazen criminals have become and how little deterrence the law currently provides. That even members of the police force, particularly women officers, are not safe on the streets points to a broader collapse in public security and a growing climate of impunity that emboldens violence against women.