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The local administration in Jashore has opened a separate institutional quarantine centre for women returning home from India alone through Benapole port.
The move comes in the wake of widespread criticism over the alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman at an institutional isolation centre in Khulna recently.
Joyotee Society, a private development centre in Jashore, has been designated as the quarantine centre for single women returnees. The centre will be manned by female staff only, officials have said.
Kazi Shamsuzzaman, additional district magistrate of Jashore, said, "The decision has been taken in the wake of the Khulna quarantine centre case. Women returning home from India with their families will be kept at the existing centres, while those coming back alone will be housed at the exclusive female centre for 14 days."
Currently, 10 single women, who returned home from India recently, are staying at the quarantine centres in Khulna. On May 14, a single woman was allegedly raped by a police officer at the Khulna PTI Training Centre during her 14-day quarantine.
The local administration has made it mandatory for everyone returning to the district from India to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine with effect from May 1.
On May 21, the government extended restrictions on the movement of passengers through land ports with India up to May 31, as India's surge in coronavirus cases continues.
Although borders with India will remain closed to people, there are no restrictions on the movement of cargos.
However, Bangladeshi citizens, stranded in India, could enter the country only through Benapole, Akhaura, Burimari Darshana, Hili, and Sonamasjid. And that too after taking permission from Bangladesh diplomatic missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala and with a mandatory Covid-negative certificate.