DHAKA: A Bangladeshi lawmaker has been slammed online for calling the police on teenage lovers
kissing in a park and posting their photos on social media in the socially conservative country. Ekramul Karim Chowdhury posted photos of the 18 teenagers to Facebook, where they quickly garnered thousands of comments.
But most users criticised him for his attempt at moral policing and for publishing images of the teens on the internet. "It's not an MP's duty to police people roaming in the parks," a Facebook user posted.
The lawmaker, who represents southern
Noakhali district, later deleted the post, saying he did not "understand social media well" and should have hidden the couples' faces. "I saw some of them kissing in the public park while I was passing by. That's obscenity I will not tolerate in my constituency," he said. He defended his actions, saying he did the right thing and would continue his "campaign". Police said the
students were handed over to their parents.
Kissing in public is a big social taboo in the Muslim majority nation.