Bangladesh names first female police station chief

Muslim-majority Bangladesh has for the first time appointed a woman to head one of its 500-plus police stations, an official said Monday. Deputy police commissioner Habibur Rahman told AFP that 48-year-old Hosne Ara being made chief of the police station inside the army base in the capital Dhaka was the first of several such appointments.
"There will be more such appointments for women in the future. The government wants to appoint women in important positions," Rahman said Ara, who joined the police force in 1981, said: "I am honoured. But it's a huge challenge for me." Although Bangladesh has allowed women to join the force since 1974, there are just 2,000 women officers out of a total of 123,000 and most are confined to clerical duties or guarding senior female politicians.