By Naim-Ul-Karim
The Bangladeshi government for the first time has appointed a female as chief of a police station aiming to further consolidate women's position in the country's police force.
Inspector Hosne Ara Begum, 47, was appointed as Officer-in- Charge (OC) of a police station in cantonment area in capital city Dhaka on Sunday.
Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Bangladesh Police Md Nazrul Islam told Xinhua on Thursday, "She (Begum) has been given the charge as we found her very much competent for such an important job."
Begum's appointment as first female chief of a police station came after the South Asian country's first female Home Minister Sahara Khatun who took office in January this year had earlier instructed the country's police force chief to look into this matter.
"It's indeed a matter of pleasure for me to become the first female OC. It's a challenging job but I prefer to go ahead facing challenges. That's why I joined in the police force," Begum told Xinhua on Thursday, after taking the charge of her new assignment for a few days.
She said the number of help-seeking women at the police station since her joining increased to a large extent as they (women) feel more safe to come to lodge their complains.
Begum, a university graduate, joined as a sub-inspector in the Bangladesh Police in 1981 and she was posted, after two years of training, in Dhaka Metropolitan Police. From 1983 to 2008, she served in various capacities in the country's police force.
After being promoted to the position of Inspector in 2004, Begum performed her duties in the country's Special Branch, an intelligence unit of the police, until joining to her new position.
Begum, however, expressed the hope that more women will be posted to the position of OC as she said there are more female inspectors who are capable of handling such position.
Back in 1974, Bangladesh for the first time recruited 14 females including seven sub-inspector and seven constable in police force.
After nearly 35 years, now the member of female police are around 1,937. Of them, one female is holding the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), the third rank in the police force.
Assistant IGP of Bangladesh Police Islam said, "We'll recruit more female officers to the post of police station chief so that the fear of women to go to the police for help can be removed further."
He said the Bangladeshi government has already established a female police network, led by the first female DIG Fatema Begum, aiming to consolidate women's position in the police force of the country.
Formation of the new unit of female police will also help to empower women police, increase their numbers, enable them to participate at policy-making level and to join in national and international forums, said a statement of the Bangladesh Police issued here earlier.
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