M M Jasim :
The incidents of violence against women and children have increased alarmingly in the country in the recent time surpassing the previous records, say noted social scientists.
They said the school and college going female students as well as the teenagers becoming victims to this brutality.
The heinous event of rape has become a common incident in the country. Rapists are killing and hiding the victims after rape. These human brutes are also taking obscene snapshots and video scenes of the victims forcibly.
Expressing their deep concern over the recent brutal incidents, sociologists Prof. Nehal Karim and Prof. Mahbuba Nasrin, and physiologist Prof. Nazrul Islam blamed that the incidents are taking place due to lack of rule of law in the country.
Nehal Karim, Prof. of Sociology Department of Dhaka University, told The New Nation on Friday that there is law in written but no cordial attempt to implement it.
“The law enforcing agencies cannot work properly due to the influence of the politicians. No social prevention is seen after any incident. Nobody has the social responsibility. The total society is now unstable. That is why the violence against women and children is increasing day by day,” he said.
Prof. Karim said, “Awareness among people will help fight the menace of rape. Actions and initiatives are needed on an urgent basis to address the issue and all, especially the civil society, should participate in such initiatives. New acts should be promulgated to punish the rapists. In schools, colleges and universities, students should be imparted proper education on mortality, values and philosophies too, as these lessons would help them build their character.”
“Formation of a special cell in the police directorate to look into repression of women and children, speedy trial of the culprits involved in rape and killing should materialise. Now it is time that civil society, children’s, women’s and human rights organisations form a coalition to fight off the ever-growing menace of violence against women. Protests are not enough; concrete steps should be taken,” said Prof. Karim.
Sociologist Prof. Mahbuba Nasrin said, the heinous incidents are increasing alarmingly because there is absence of social accountability. In the past, a man was accountable to the society. The people do not show any interest to prevent such incidents. That is why, it is increasing day by day. Only united efforts can eliminate the criminal elements from the society, she said.
Prof. Nazrul Islam, Chairman of Psychology Department of Dhaka University said there is no rule of law in the country. No one respects the law. Many people involve in corruption. The moral education is absence in the process of learning of the children. The culprits can dismiss their cases easily. As a result, the society is going to be an unstable and brutal society. Only rule of law can protect our society, he said.
According to intelligence sources, 100 rape incidents were recorded over the last six months, but the actual incidents are much higher than the recorded ones.
“In many cases, the victims don’t disclose the incidents fearing social stigma. Even sometimes, the perpetrators record the rape scenes with their cellphones and threaten to spread the video through the Internet,” the sources said.
According to Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, a total of 492 rapes took place in the country from January to June this year. Earlier in 2014, 939 rape incidents were recorded across the country.
According to Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA),
23 cases were recorded in connection with deaths due to rape in 2013, while the figure was 20 in 2012.
On Friday, the Ashulia Thana Police rescued a girl from a brothel in Mymansingh who was sold there after gang rape. The police also arrested two persons in this connection.
Police detained four kidnappers while they were attempting to abduct a school girl in Sujanagar upazila of Pabna on Thursday evening.
A teenage girl was gang raped by a group of youths at Lalbagh in Dhaka on Wednesday.
These are the some of the scenarios of the rape in the country, but hundreds of rape and other violence are occurring every day.
On Wednesday, Golam Mostafa tortured two minor children cruelly after tying them with a tree in Shyamnagar upazila.
The recent inhuman and barbaric incident was held in Sylhet. A 12-year-old child was beaten to death for his alleged involvement in theft and some four persons conducted the barbarism.
Apart from the barbarism, these criminals made a video of beating of the child and uploaded it on the Internet to make watch the barbarism.
At one stage of beating, the child wanted to drink water but they did not provide water rather they asked him to drink sweat.
It was seen in the video that youths were beating the minor terming him a thief. He was tied with and beat him mercilessly. The boy was seen to cry loudly and the youths were seen laughing.
