TDS Desk:

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested a man who was seen in a viral video assaulting a woman on a Dhaka city bus, reportedly over her clothing.

The arrestee, identified as Nizamuddin, 45, was detained by a RAB-4 team from the Mohammadpur Bus Stand area yesterday and later handed over to police, Kazi Rafiq, officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station told journalists on Friday (October 31).

“The man works as a bus helper of Ramjan Paribahan,” the OC said, adding that RAB identified Nizamuddin after the video spread widely on social media.

The woman had filed a case against Nizamuddin under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with Mohammadpur Police Station. Police produced the accused before a court seeking a seven-day remand for further investigation.

The incident, which occurred on 29 October, sparked widespread outrage after footage showed the man arguing with the woman before hitting her. Other passengers looked on without intervening, until the woman retaliated by striking him with her shoe.

The footage, recorded by another passenger, captures the woman standing and furiously confronting the seated man, who can be heard shouting profanities at her. At one point, the man takes of his sandle and starts hitting the woman, in retaliation to which the woman also takes off her sandal and strikes him.

The man then stands up and lunges toward her, pushing her onto a front seat. Another female passenger is seen standing up and attempting to calm the situation, seemingly trying to dissuade the woman from “causing a scene”. When the woman regains her balance, she strikes the man again.