POBNEWS24 Dhaka, June 15, 2023 : The number of female criminals is increasing in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, according to an information of Metropolitan Intelligence Police.
Commissioner Mashiur Rahman of Lalbagh Division of Metropolitan Intelligence Police told this at a press conference here today.
He mentioned that on June 13, a team of them raided some areas of the capital and arrested 9 female pickpockets and their 7 male accomplices. Stolen goods including a large number of mobile phones were recovered from the arrested persons.
Arrested are: Barsha Akhtar (Meem) (22), Sumi Akhtar (Priya) (23), Shabnoor (27), Aleya (Alo) (21), Sathi Akhtar (26), Shakina Begum (43), Sujeena Akhtar (Rushkina) (26), Taniya Khanam (27), and Taslima Khatun (37).
The male accomplices are Md. Mahabub Hossain (32), Md. Moktar Hossain (40), Rafiqul Islam (42), Md. Imran Hossain (20), Syed Halder (40), Md. Ashraf Dhali (38), and Md. Zakir Hossain (39).
The arrested women dressed in burqas and hijabs with children in their laps pretended to be loving mothers and stole mobile phones and money from women’s vanity bags in major educational institutions and markets in residential areas of Dhaka.
According to the intelligence sources, the women have been arrested at different times earlier and they have returned to the same profession after coming out of the jail. And the male accomplices helped their bail out of jail.
Detective Lalbagh Division Commissioner Mashiur Rahman told UNI that the arrested women admitted that their families were in turmoil, some did not have husbands, and some were abandoned by their husbands. One of the arrested women admitted that she learned to steal from her mother. Her mother had been engaged in stealing for a long time.
The detective officer said, “The arrested male accomplices did not allow the women to get out of the theft business. Once they enter into the profession of theft, there is no way out for them. They are forcing new women to enter this profession every day. But I think that other crimes in Bangladesh have been reduced a lot since Sheikh Hasina’s government came to power. In this regard, awareness raising activities are continuing on the part of the police.
Theft is an offense under Section 378 of the Penal Code. Why are women involved in this crime? Professor Zia, Dean of Sociology Department of Dhaka University said, “This crime is increasing due to increasing poverty and unemployment. Organized crime is increasing, it was not there before in our country. The women who are involved in this crime must have a male gang behind them. Family breakdown, family turmoil, poverty are also pushing women towards this profession. On the other hand, people’s mentality has also changed day by day, this is another reason.
Yesterday, UNI made a report on divorce in Bangladesh. It is said that every 40 minutes one person gets divorced in Dhaka. Is divorce a big factor? In this context, Professor Zia said, now life has become very difficult due to which those women are forced to get involved in crime. In this case, those who remain behind the scene should be caught, he added.
