Hotels Giving Rooms to Minor Girls Without NID in Cox's Bazar Will Face Action, Warns MP Swapna
Reserved-seat lawmaker and Cox's Bazar district BNP general secretary Advocate Shamim Ara Swapna has said legal action will be taken against hotel owners and managers if rooms are given to underage girls staying with boyfriends without a National Identity Card (NID), in order to ensure safe tourism in Cox's Bazar.
She made the remarks on Saturday (24 October) at noon while speaking at a views-exchange meeting organised by the Cox's Bazar district administration with hotel, motel and restaurant owners, tourism businesses and stakeholders to ensure safe tourism. At the same meeting, Superintendent of Police ANM Sajedur Rahman stressed positive branding of Cox's Bazar to counter negative publicity and protect the tourism industry's image.
Shamim Ara Swapna, a former public prosecutor of the Cox's Bazar District Judge's Court, said: 'It is being seen that underage girls are coming to hotels in Cox's Bazar and staying with their boyfriends. They are young, not of an age fit to stay alone in a hotel. Yet giving them rooms without an NID is a major offence in law. Because of this, various incidents are happening — deaths are taking place here and there, some are dying by suicide.'
Calling Cox's Bazar the most beautiful tourist area in Bangladesh, she said girls could stay in hotels if they came with their parents. But if they came with a boyfriend, they could not be allowed to stay without an NID. If such incidents were still detected, legal action would be taken against the hotel owners and managers concerned, she warned.
A recent tragic incident also came up for discussion at the meeting. The recovery of the body of seventh-grade student Jannatul Tajmin in Cumilla on 8 October was raised. The 13-year-old student had stayed at a hotel in Cox's Bazar with her alleged boyfriend Raju before she was killed.
In that hotel's register, the student's name was recorded as 'Tanju Akter' and her age was written as 18. The fact that she was given a room by showing her age as 18 when she was actually 13 has raised fresh questions about safe tourism.
Raising the matter at the meeting, Cox's Bazar SP ANM Sajedur Rahman stressed positive branding in the interest of the tourism industry. He said Cox's Bazar had been dragged into the Cumilla incident. A group wants people not to come to Cox's Bazar but to go elsewhere. Such ill efforts must be resisted in the interest of the tourism industry, and care must be taken so that negative publicity does not spread, he said.
The meeting was held at the Shahid Subhash auditorium of the Cox's Bazar Institute and Public Library, chaired by Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mannan. Cox's Bazar-3 lawmaker Lutfur Rahman Kajal, officials from various government departments including the Fire Service and the Department of Environment, and business leaders spoke at the meeting.
A series of recent deaths of tourists in Cox's Bazar has brought the question of safe tourism back into discussion. On 17 October, 10 tourists died in a fire at the Tuptup Resort on Marine Drive.
Four days later, on 21 October, five tourists drowned while bathing at Himchhari beach. The successive loss of lives has increased concern over Cox's Bazar's safety arrangements even before the tourist season is in full swing.
Against this backdrop, the administration's views-exchange with tourism businesses to reduce risks and ensure safe travel in the ongoing tourist season is being viewed positively. Views expressed at the meeting held that if guest registration rules are strictly followed in hotels, the risks of unsafe stays by minors and resulting incidents would fall.
The administration has given hotel owners and managers a clear message — no suspicious person or minor may be given a room without NID verification. Hotel authorities concerned will face legal action if the rules are broken.
