Local residents on Sunday caught a madrasah office assistant and handed him over to the police for allegedly sexually harassing a five-year-old student in Shariatpur municipality area.

Imran Choiyal is an office assistant at Darul Arkan Ebtedayee Madrasah in the Dhanuka area of the municipality.

According to locals and police, Imran Choiyal had allegedly been harassing the child for a long time. Although the child informed family members about the ordeal multiple times, they initially did not take it seriously.

On Thursday, the accused allegedly touched the child inappropriately again. After returning home from the madrasah, the child reported the matter to the family. The family members immediately went to the madrasah but could not find the accused.

On Sunday morning, the family members went to the madrasah and, with the help of locals, caught Imran before informing the police.

Law enforcement officials later arrived and took him into custody.

The victim's family alleged that Imran had previously been accused of sexually harassing multiple other children. Despite informing the madrasah authorities about those past incidents, no effective action was taken against him.

Md. Shah Alam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Palang Model Police Station, said, "A man detained by locals over allegations of sexually harassing a child has been brought to the police station. We are investigating the matter with utmost importance."

A written complaint has been received from the victim's family. "If the allegations are found true during the investigation, necessary legal action will be taken against him under the existing laws," the OC added.