A forty-two-year-old shopkeeper has been taken into police custody on the offshore island upazila of Hatiya, within Noakhali district, following allegations that he sexually assaulted a nine-year-old primary school student inside a local dispensary. The suspect, identified as Mohammad Helal Uddin—commonly known throughout the locality as Helal Master—was apprehended by residents after video footage depicting the purported assault surfaced on social media platforms.
The incident took place at around nine o’clock on Sunday morning at Adarsha Gram Bazar in Harani Union. Helal Uddin, whose father is Belayet Khalifa of Ward 4 within the same union, runs a pharmacy located in the heart of the bazaar. According to local residents and investigative officers, he was previously an educator at Adarsha Gram High School before stepping away from the teaching profession two to three years ago.
Preliminary accounts indicate that the suspect used deceptive pretences to coax the third-grade pupil inside his commercial establishment. Once inside, he allegedly guided the child into a partitioned storage area at the rear of the shop, where the assault occurred. A bystander who noticed unusual activity approached the building, witnessed the incident through a fractured opening in the corrugated iron wall, and recorded the scene on a mobile phone.
The footage spread quickly across local communication channels, prompting neighbours and traders to gather outside the dispensary to confront the shopkeeper. When questioned about the recording, Helal Uddin attempted to flee the bazaar on foot. Bystanders intercepted him immediately and escorted him to the Chairmanghat police outpost, handing him over to law enforcement personnel.
Community members reported that this was not the first time allegations of this nature had been raised against the suspect. On 4 August, an informal village arbitration was held in the same locality after an alleged attempt to assault another child. During that community-led proceeding, village arbiters reportedly penalised Helal Uddin with a financial fine of 10,000 taka alongside fifty lashes.
The arrest has also sparked political friction across the area. Local residents stated that Helal Uddin had previously served as the forestry and environmental affairs secretary for a grassroots unit of the Jubo League, the youth wing of the Awami League. Following the political changeover on 5 August, however, he had been seen attending events organised by Jamaat-e-Islami.
Harani Union Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Hafez Tariful Mawla refuted claims of official party involvement, asserting that the suspect possessed no genuine ties to the organisation. He maintained that Helal Uddin had merely sought political cover after 5 August by joining a large public procession, insisting that the accused had spent his entire active political life affiliated with his previous organisation.
Sub-Inspector Salauddin Rased, in charge of the Chairmanghat police outpost, confirmed that officers took custody of the suspect from local residents without incident. Kabir Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Hatiya Police Station, stated that the victim’s mother is filing a formal case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Police confirmed that the nine-year-old girl is being transferred to the Noakhali 250-bed General Hospital for requisite forensic examinations as the formal criminal investigation gets underway.
