Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
The number of rape incidents has reportedly been increased throughout the country, although only one per cent rape victims allege the violation for seeking justice, experts said.
They added even the falling in rape of the under-aged girls has raised sharply in the city and other parts of the country that already have created panic among the people.
The reports of committing rapes are spreading in the social, print and electronic media after the incident held at a Banani hotel in the city recently, they added.
Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, Executive Director of Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), said the percentage of rape cases has gone higher this year compared to that of the same period in 2016.
“But, the problem is that only one percent victim goes to the police seeking legal action,” said Mustafa K Mujeri.
In last 18 days, at least 35 women, including 16 under-aged girls (five to sixteen) were reportedly raped in Dhaka and some other districts, say media reports. At least 258 women and teenaged girls were raped from January to April this year. Even 49 women were raped in April and of the victims, 32 were baby girls, said a data of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad.
According to a nationwide data of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), prepared based on newspaper reports, at least 51 girls, aged below 18, were raped between January and March this year. The number of gang-rape and attempted rape victims over the same period in last year was 12 and 13 respectively.
Statistics of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) shows that a total of 1,301 children were raped in between 2012 and September 2016. The number was highest last year with 521 child rapes. The number of incidents was 199 in 2014, 170 in 2013 and 86 in 2012.
According to Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, more than 13,194 women and girl children were raped between 2010 and 2016. Of them, 4,776 have been raped, 1153 gang raped and 590 killed after violations respectively.
Professor Zia Rahman, Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said, “Due to a deep-rooted patriarchal thought process, boys and men alike are learning not to respect women. Institutions that work on sex education have also failed to emit adequate knowledge and raise awareness.”
Why are children increasingly becoming victims of rape? Prof Zia said this is happening because children are more vulnerable than adult women.
“Security of girl children in the country’s slums is under a great threat. The special provision of the Child Marriage Restraint Act has intensified the danger, causing rape incidents to increase,” said Sheepa Hafiza, Executive Director of the Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).
Director of BSAF Abdus Shahid Mahmud said that the complaints of rape incident are very poor comparing to real violation incidents as many victims and their families keep silent to consider the social status and marriage related issue.
“Most of the victims are from poor families and cannot get justice as the criminals are above the status of the victims, they either settle the issue in exchange for money or frighten them away with their muscle power,” he said.
Rabiul Islam Robi, a Supreme Court practitioner said: “Rape victims’ statements are not recorded in open courts. They usually testify one-to-one with the Judge inside a special room in front of a camera. This is known as camera trials.”
Psychologist Ashoke Kumar Saha said, “Rape is a traumatic experience for any victims. Therefore, it is nothing abnormal if a victim does not want to recount the trauma, even before a court. There is also the social stigma associated with being raped in our society. Women do not want to talk openly about this.”
Asked what police have been doing to reduce rape incidents, Abdullah Al-Mamun, a Deputy Inspector General of Police, said: “Investigation of rape cases gets top priority from us.”
