NEWS media reported that a schoolgirl was murdered allegedly after rape in Dighinala Upazila of Khagrachhari on Saturday. Life of the Class-IV student at her age nine ended due to the inhumanity of masculine that denotes life of innocent is not safe and when it’s about girls their life is constantly under threat. The life of people and their dignity though are secured as per the Constitution, there’s no authority effectively to protect the rights of people. In some cases, cops are found as top law violators. The society and the state could not be run through a misleading direction for an indefinite period.
Locals said Kirtika left school for home in Noilmail area during the lunch break on Saturday. However, when her mother Onumoti Tripura returned home from work in the evening, Kirtika was not there. There was no one else in that house. Worriedly, the mother searched almost every house in the village to find her daughter. Later around midnight, some locals spotted Kirtika’s body in a forest near the village. On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Khagrachhari Sadar Hospital for autopsy. At least five girls have been raped in the hilly district in the last three months.
According to Ain O Salish Kendra a total of 818 women were raped across the country in 2017, among which 47 were killed after rape and 11 committed suicide. Besides, a total of 659 women were raped in 2016.
On the other hand, the rights defender Odhikar recorded that a total number of 363 females were raped between January and June 2018. Among them, 101 were women, 261 were girls below the age of 18 and the identity of one person was not reported. Of the women, 49 were victims of gang rape and eight were killed after being raped. Out of the 261 girls, 48 were victims of gang rape, 20 were killed after being raped.
In particular, the overall life is difficult in the hilly areas as getting the basic utilities and arrangement of livelihood is hard. Besides, tension centering different tribal groups is a constant threat to peace and stability. Especially, the hilly women are vulnerable to physical assaults. Our women are not safe anywhere.
