Case against Hawa to be dropped

A Dhaka court on Thursday allowed the plea to withdraw the case against the movie 'Hawa' filed by the Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU). Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique's court ordered the withdrawal of the case, said the complainant's   lawyer Zakir Hossain Khan.
Earlier, on August 28, wildlife inspector Nargis Sultana, the plaintiff in the case, filed a plea to withdraw the case. After the hearing, the court fixed Thursday for passing the order. The petition for withdrawal of the case states that the case was filed by the complainant under Sections 38(1), 38(2), 41 and 46 of the Wildlife Act, 2012.
Earlier, on August 17, the Forest Division's WCCU unit filed a case against Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, director of the movie 'Hawa', for allegedly violating the Wildlife Conservation and Safety Act 2012. The movie was released on July 29 and became a hit but the animal rights activists pointed out the caging of a commom myna or shalik, the killing of the bird for a meal, as well as the catching of a or stingray, as violations of the act.
Later, on August 11, a four-member team from the Wildlife Crime Control Unit watched 'Hawa' at the Bashundhara City branch of Star Cineplex in Dhaka and found evidence of the law violations.


Regarding these allegations, the movie director Mejbaur Rahman Sumon told the media that no animal was harmed in the movie.
'Dummies were used for the sake of the story,' he said.
He said they put up a disclaimer on the issue at the beginning of the film.
Sumon also said they used chicken while shooting the scene of the characters eating myna.