Police have rescued a woman health worker who was quarantined in a makeshift hut by a local Awami League leader in Gopalganj.
The 21-year-old victim was rescued from a thatched cabin made of palm leaves near a pond after being confined there for seven days in Lokhonda village of Kotalipara upazila in the district.
Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune on Monday, Kotalipara police station Officer-in-Charge, Sheikh Liutfar Rahman, said: “The woman health worker was rescued today at noon. She was taken to her home where a separate quarter was built for her quarantine.
“Legal action will be taken against the culprits after the victim files a complaint with us.”
Contacted, Kotalipara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) S M Mahufuzur Rahman, said: “We have visited the house of the victim and provided some food aid.
“Her samples will be collected soon for Covid-19 testing. Those who inhumanely forced her to stay in a makeshift hut for seven days will be punished.”
According to sources, the woman health worker was a doctor’s attendant at Dhaka’s Impulse Hospital which was recently shut down amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She then came back to her home in Lokhonda village on April 21.
As the news of her arrival spread, locals, following the directives of Sadullapur union Awami League Organising Secretary Proshanta Baroi, forced the woman to stay in “quarantine” in a makeshift hut built near a dried pond around 400 metres away from her house.
The incident went viral after pictures of her were posted on various social media platforms.
"I've been living here for more than a week in subhuman conditions in the sun and rain. I have provided health services to people but now my own health is under threat.
“I can’t believe that people can be so cruel,” said the health worker to Dhaka Tribune.
Echoing the same, the health worker's mother, said: “My husband is dead. My daughter is the sole breadwinner of the family. My daughter was kept in such an inhuman condition upon the orders of local Awami League leader Baroi.
“I want Baroi to be punished for his wrongdoing.”
However, denying the allegations made against him, Baroi said: “This decision was taken by the local people collectively.
“If there was any injustice done to the health worker, everyone will have to be held responsible. I’m not the only one to blame here.”
