Athlete trainer faces harassment at metro station after half-pant called ‘indecent’

Sajjad Hossen, athlete trainer, has alleged that he was held up for about 40 minutes while trying to board the metro rail wearing T-shirt and half-pant after morning exercise. He alleged that a police member on duty at Farmgate metro rail station of the capital stopped him from entering by calling his dress ‘indecent’.

The incident took place at Farmgate metro station on Sunday (September 27) morning. Sajjad alleged that a police member stopped him while punching the ticket and told him to change dress and come. An argument took place with police over this and later permission to board the metro was given after talking with higher authority.

Sajjad Hossen has been working as a trainer of marathon and ultramarathon for about a decade. He himself runs regularly and provides running training at various parks of the capital at dawn. After the incident he informed the matter by publishing a 55-second video on his Facebook account.

In the video a police member named ‘Jakir’ is seen talking with him. Raising objection about Sajjad’s dress the police member said he has been told to wear decent dress and the dress he is wearing does not fully fall within decency. In reply Sajjad asked whether there is any written rule about which dress is decent and which is not. The police member then said looking after the matter is his responsibility.

Sajjad said after finishing training at Ramna in the morning he went to Farmgate for a work. Later he was stopped while entering the metro station to go to Bijoy Sarani. Introducing himself as a running coach he said he has come to board the metro right after finishing training. He also requested to show if there is any rule prohibiting boarding the metro wearing half-pant.

He claimed two more police members present at the scene also raised objection about his dress and told him to come wearing trousers. Even he was told to take off the half-pant and come wearing trousers. In this way he was made to stand there for about 40 minutes. At that time a woman officer of the metro rail control board also asked about his dress and went to talk with higher officers after taking photos, Sajjad said.

Later after talking with higher authority Sajjad was given permission to travel on the metro rail. He also gave a written complaint at Farmgate metro station over the incident. However, he claimed no copy of the complaint was given to him and he was not allowed to take photo of the complaint either.

Meanwhile a higher officer of metro rail has informed that there is no specific dress code for passengers. However, he does not know the details about why that police member behaved in such a way. Attempt was made to contact the public relations officer of MRT police for his statement on this matter but his statement could not be obtained.

Regarding the incident professor of Peace and Conflict Studies Department of Dhaka University Sajjad Siddiqui said such behaviour of MRT police may be a reflection of institutional failure. The main responsibility of police is to ensure security of general people; if the behaviour of any police member goes to the level of harassment there, it is a matter of concern.

He further said the matter becomes more serious if abuse of power is combined with the dress and institutional power of police. Therefore ensuring accountability of the concerned person is necessary in this incident.