National

Youth held over schoolgirl's 'suicide' after sexual harassment

A young man has been arrested in a case filed over the 'suicide' of a schoolgirl after being sexually harassed by him in Jamalpur district. 

The law enforcers apprehended Tamim Ahmed Swapan, 25, a resident of Sadhupur Kandapara village in Melandaha upazila of the district, from Charpasha area in Sadar upazila of Mymensingh early Saturday.

The matter was disclosed in a press conference at Jamalpur camp of the Rapid Action Battalion-14 (CPC-1) this afternoon.

At the conference, RAB's company commander squadron leader Ashiquzzaman said Ashamoni, a 10th-grader at MA Gafur High School in Melandaha, committed suicide after she had been sexually harassed.

On the following day, her father Md Abu Mia, a resident of east Shahjatpur in the upazila, lodged a case with Melandaha Police Station in this connection.

It was learned that Tamim would often tease Ashamoni on her way to school, and he confined her at a home and sexually assaulted her on Thursday morning.

In the afternoon of the day, she returned home and closed the door of her room from inside. 

In the evening, her mother Shila Begum noticed through the window her hanging.

Later, she was rushed to a hospital where the on-duty doctors declared her dead.

Two notes were also found beside her body that contain, "Tamim confined me in a room in the whole day. Tamim would disturb me and told me that he will go away from my life if I meet him. But he did something very bad with me which I can't say."

Nasim Uddin/SU