A woman garment worker was killed and many were injured on 13 June 2021 following a police crackdown on protesting workers from Lenny Fashions and Lenny Apparels in the Dhaka export processing zone (DEPZ), Ashulia. The workers were demanding their wages after the closure of the factory.
Jesmin Begum (32), a garment worker who worked for Lenny Fashions, suffered fatal injuries after she hit an iron pole while running away from the site of the protest as police violently dispersed the demonstrators. Many workers were injured when police fired rubber bullets, threw tear-gas shells, used water cannons and baton-charged protesting workers at Dhaka-Tangail Highway at DEPZ, Ashulia.
Over 6,000 workers lost their jobs when Lenny Fashion and Lenny Apparels, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Must Garment, closed on 20 January 2021. Management said it would pay unpaid wages by May, but the company never fulfilled its commitment. The frustrated workers gathered at the Nabinagar-Chandra highway outside the EPZ on 13 June to demand payment. When the workers refused to move from the road after two hours, the police began using their tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse them.
