Man sent to rehab, daughter gets study facilities following viral video

The local administration has sent a man to rehab, arranged livelihood opportunities for his wife and undertaken measures to properly educate his daughter after a video went viral, which shows the man is tied to a pole and being fed by his daughter.

The incident happened at a rural kitchen market in Uzirpur upazila of Barishal over the weekend. Local trader Miraz Hossain Farazi filmed the feeding incident and posted it on Facebook with the message: “He is as much a good father, as he is a vile thief.”

The video drew major attention from netizens, and the local government officials visited the scene on Sunday.

Later, however, the people, who had tied him up and beat him alleging stealing, themselves freed him. Following a brief custody, police also later let him go as no proof of criminal offence was found against him.

Many locals alleged that he was previously reprimanded over similar allegations of stealing. Many villagers also brought allegations of drug abuse.

He told local reporters that he was innocent and some people had tied him up over “land possession dispute.”

Nonetheless, he has been sent into rehab for proper mental and physical recovery, said Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Ali Suja.

Many wealth locals and even netizens living abroad have offered financial assistance for the family and the child, the UNO said.

According to locals and police, some people in the market detained the man on Friday night alleging stealing, beat him up and tied him to a nearby pole.

The next day, his fourth-grader daughter heard the news, and rushed to the spot teary-eyed. Someone bought a small piece of bread, and tea, which she then fed to her tied-up father.

At the time, the man was surrounded by a curious crowd, some of whom were talking about gouging out the alleged thief’s eyes, others demanded further beating, while some simply wanted to hand him over to the police.

In the middle of this all, the feeding by the teary-eyed six-year-old daughter caught the attention of Miraz Hossain Farazi, and melted his “stone heart,” he told reporters.

He decided to spread a video of the incident on social media and attach it with an “emotional message,” he added.