Responsibility of govt for deterrence stressed again

Referring to police failures to arrest the Pahela Baishakh molesters, Gono Songhoti Andolon Convener Zonayed Saki yesterday alleged that the incidence of sexual assault was increasing in the country because the government lacked accountability.

"Molesting females has been a common phenomenon in all festivals," he told a rally of 12 left-leaning student organisations under the banner of Progotishil Chhatra Jote and Shamrajjobad Birodhi Chhatra Oikya at the capital's Shahbagh.

Bazlur Rashid Firoz, leader of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, said the High Court had ordered the education institutions to create anti-harassment cells but no one complied. "At the educational institutions, sexual assault is increasing and schoolgirls cannot escape it; the government must take the responsibility," he said.