BNWLA demands punishment

Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) yesterday demanded that the authorities concerned of the government take stern action against the policemen for torturing a child in the capital's Crescent Lake area beside the National Parliament.

Issuing a press statement, the organisation stoutly condemned and protested the incident by terming it barbaric.

Referring to the media reports on the incident, it observed that torture on children is increasing nowadays since the child protection law is not being properly applied.

BNWLA Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali said the alleged police torture on the child was very reprehensible and unpardonable. She urged the authorities concerned of police to probe into the incident and take necessary actions against the perpetrators.

A video recently went viral on social media including Facebook showing a policeman was beating up a boy, aged 12 to 15, while his colleagues were watching it near the lake on April 21.

The man who secretly captured the incident on his camera and shared on Facebook said they beat up the child allegedly for taking a bath in the lake.

"We are trying to identify the police members who were on duty that day. We will take action after an investigation," said Biplob Kumar Sarkar, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Tejgaon Zone), adding that he too watched the video on Facebook. The torture came amid a recent string of attacks on children in the country.