A brothel in Madaripur town was attacked allegedly by Islamist activists and nearly 500 sex workers were forced out of it yesterday.
Several hundred activists of Islahe Qoum Parishad stormed the brothel at Puranbazar around 11:00am. They beat up at least 30 women who did not want to leave what they call home for generations, said Mamata Rani, president of Bandhobi Nari Sangha, an organisation of sex workers.
The attackers ransacked the 250-year-old brothel and looted valuables, she alleged.
The attack was made despite a July 22 High Court ruling, in which the home ministry and police were asked not to harass residents of the brothel and to allow the sex workers to continue with their occupation for a year.
Responding to a petition by the rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra, the court also ordered removal of the signboards hung on the four gates of the brothel, which prohibited clients of the sex workers from entering the brothel from sunset to sunrise.
Police fired several blank shots to bring the situation under control yesterday. In their presence, the inmates left the brothel.
Asked why police did not ensure their protection in the red-light quarter, Madaripur Superintendent of Police Khandoker Faridul Islam said, “The brothel is not authorised by the government.”
The sex workers had rented several houses there, and despite the owners’ repeated requests to leave, they continued to stay, he added.
The SP also said the owners yesterday morning went to that place along with some “respected” people of the neighbourhood and urged the residents to move out. But the sex workers brandished kitchen knives to scare them away. As the news spread, several hundred people flocked to the spot and began hurling brickbats at the sex workers.
However, Moulana Sharif Mujibul Haque, president of Madaripur Islahe Qoum Parishad, said activists of the organisation had made the attack.
“The Parishad has long been campaigning for a Madaripur free of prostitutes. Though the shipping minister [who is from the district] promised their rehabilitation, none of the sex workers moved out. This angered people and that is why they have dislodged them,” said Moulana Sharif.
The Islamist group staged a series of angry demonstrations in recent months and demanded the authorities dismantle the brothel, saying it was corrupting young men in the town.
Some sex workers, seeking anonymity, said that despite assurances of rehabilitation, nothing had been done as yet.
Yesterday’s incident, they added, was aimed at paving the way for influential locals to grab the valuable land.
Meanwhile, at a press conference organised by Sex-workers’ Network at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital, speakers demanded punishment to those who had attacked and driven out the inmates of the brothel in Madaripur.
“The land on which the brothel stands is quite precious since it is located in the heart of the town. Seventy-five percent of the land was either purchased or inherited by the sex workers. Since May this year, Islamist organisations under the influence of political leaders made several attempts to force the sex workers out,” said Joya Sikhder, president of the organisation.
In a press release, the National Human Rights Commission condemned the incident, saying it was deeply concerned over the security and rehabilitation of the evicted sex workers.
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