The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea to retract a six-month bail for Marzia Akhter Shila, who faces charges of harassing and attacking a young woman at Narsingdi Railway Station for wearing what she viewed as ‘obscene’ clothes.
On Thursday, an appellate bench headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddiqui ruled on the state's appeal against the bail granted by the High Court.
Lawyers Zahirul Islam Mukul and Mohammad Ahsan represented Shila in court, while Assistant Attorney General Mohammad Saiful Alam appeared for the state.
In the wake of the apex court's ruling, there are no more legal barriers to Shila's release from jail on bail, according to Advocate Mukul.
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.
But the order was later suspended by the Supreme Court's chamber judge on Aug 22, pending a hearing before the Appellate Division.
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 on May 30. She has been in jail since then.