What is the mystery behind Swarnamoyee’s suicide?

Suicide is the most tragic decision a human being can make. Many end their lives due to extreme mental stress, physical illness, professional failure, relationship breakdown, or financial despair. Psychiatrists and psychoanalysts believe that suicide usually stems from a combination of complex factors rather than a single cause. However, a particularly sharp and sudden shock can sometimes drive anyone to make such a fatal decision.

Since Saturday midnight, Facebook feeds have been flooded with the image of an enchanting face bearing a soft smile reminiscent of the Mona Lisa. The photo, in black and white, feels strangely appropriate as an epitaph of life. The photo is of Swarnamoyee Biswas, a creative graphic designer working for Dhaka Stream, an online news outlet. Her work revolved around visuals—she designed the site’s wall with imagination and artistry. Now, she herself has become a picture, leaving behind a trail of sighs. Her death has stirred countless questions in the media world. Both mainstream and social media reports have now largely confirmed that Swarnamoyee Biswas took her own life.

A vibrant young woman of only 28 left the world too soon. Many have pointed to sexual harassment and workplace abuse as possible reasons behind her untimely death. Yet, without a proper investigation, it would be risky to draw conclusions. Nevertheless, Swarnamoyee’s death has once again brought into focus the issue of sexual harassment faced by women journalists and media professionals in Bangladesh’s newsrooms—an issue that demands serious discussion and urgent attention so that no one else meets the same fate.

The news outlet where Swarnamoyee worked is a well-funded, relatively new media organisation that quickly established a reputation for professionalism and creativity. In presentation and production, it had set high standards. Yet, just a few months ago, Swarnamoyee and her colleagues had filed a complaint against their department head for sexual harassment. The written complaint, dated 13 July this year and addressed to the organisation’s top management, contained serious allegations. Swarnamoyee and others alleged that the head of the Bangla section, Altaf Shahnewaj, persistently harassed female colleagues—using obscene and suggestive language, bullying, flirtatious insinuations, intrusive questions about women’s private lives, late-night phone calls without reason, and indecent comments about female co-workers.

In any civilised workplace, even one of these acts is a punishable offence. The letter carried the signatures of 28 employees, including Swarnamoyee and several other women. Allegations of sexual harassment at work are always sensitive and serious. They require thorough and fair investigation, while also ensuring due process for the accused. Because, in Bangladesh and elsewhere, such accusations can sometimes be driven by motive or misused under certain circumstances. The High Court of Bangladesh, in a landmark 2009 verdict, defined sexual harassment and issued 11 directives for its prevention.

According to that ruling, every public and private institution must have a sexual harassment prevention committee. The investigation committee should include members from outside the organisation to ensure impartiality. Given this context, the management of Swarnamoyee’s organisation should have investigated the complaint properly. Sadly, none of that was done. The accused remained in his position and, perhaps, continued his vile behaviour.

Sexual abuse and harassment of women in workplaces in Bangladesh are nothing new. Women have long been victims of such despicable acts. Compared with other countries, Bangladesh has fewer women in decision-making or leadership positions, which makes them more vulnerable to such exploitation. The spread of digital media and social networking platforms has also created new forms of harassment, making these crimes easier to commit.

In 2020, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Nari Unnayan Forum and Awareness Bangladesh conducted a survey on this issue. It found that 58 percent of working women in Bangladesh had faced physical or mental harassment, and 43 percent had been victims of sexual harassment at their workplace. About 35 percent reported obscene remarks or indecent behaviour from colleagues or supervisors. Nearly 40 percent said that when they reported such incidents, management took no proper action or ignored the matter entirely. Perhaps Swarnamoyee was a victim of the same indifference. In the final line of their complaint, she and her colleagues had written, “We therefore demand that this organisation be responsible enough to solve these issues and protect us from being traumatised in the workplace.”

Had that plea reached attentive ears, perhaps a young life could have been saved. Perhaps, on this autumn morning, Swarnamoyee Biswas too would have been smiling and finding joy in her work and creativity.

Recently, UNESCO has been conducting a study on media viability in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal under its IPDC Media Viability Project. The research uses media sustainability indicators developed by Deutsche Welle and UNESCO. One of these key indicators concerns workplace safety for women journalists and the existence of mechanisms to address sexual harassment. As a researcher on this project, I have found that over 80 percent of media offices in Bangladesh do not have sexual harassment prevention committees, and in more than 90 percent of cases, management remains indifferent to complaints. It is this indifference that may have claimed the life of Swarnamoyee Biswas.

We must ensure that no other woman like Swarnamoyee Biswas has to die because of workplace harassment and neglect.

Rahat Minhaz: Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Jagannath University, Dhaka