The Supreme Court's chamber judge has suspended the bail granted by the High Court to Marzia Akhter aka Shila, a woman accused of harassing and attacking a young woman at Narsingdi Railway Station for wearing what the attackers believed were ‘obscene’ clothes.
Justice M Enayetur Rahim made the decision on Monday after hearing a petition from the state, reports bdnews24.com.
The court then set Aug 29 for a hearing of the petition before the Appellate Division.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin, accompanied by Assistant Attorney General Mohammad Saiful Islam, represented the state. Marzia was represented by lawyers Zahirul Islam and Kamal Hossain.
“The chamber court has suspended the bail granted to Marzia Akhter Shila by the High Court,” Hossain said after the hearing. “A regular hearing will now be held in front of a bench from the Appellate Division.”
The High Court bench of Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq granted Shila a six-month interim bail in the case on Aug 16.
During the hearing, one of the judges asked the state whether such clothes could be worn to a train station in a ‘civilised country’.
On May 18, a woman at Narsingdi Railway Station was harassed and then attacked by a group for wearing what they claimed were ‘obscene’ clothes. A video of the incident spread on social media the next day.
In the video, a woman and some men appear to assault the young woman, while one of her travelling companions tries to protect her. The young woman runs away and takes shelter in the station master’s room with help. Another person then closed the collapsible gate to the room. Once the situation calmed and the crowd dispersed, the station master let the young woman out of the room.
Police filed a case over the incident at the Bhairab Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act based on a court order. Marzia Akhter aka Shila was named as one of the suspects.
Shila was arrested by RAB in Narsingdi’s Shibpur on May 30. She has been in jail since then.
