Police have rescued a rape victim and arrested six men on charge of gang-raping a woman on a running bus in Savar’s Ashulia area. On Friday night, a police patrol team being suspicious of a speeding bus intercepted it a few metres away from Jahangirnagar University after a chase.
Based on victim’s complaint, police arrested six men including the bus driver and helper. A Dhaka court on Saturday placed five men on a three-day remand as usual. What remains to be disclosed by them can say more than what they did? We are disturbed that the police administration is derailed from being efficient crime prevetor. The investigation system is most ineffective depending on intimidation in police remand. The Supreme Court is not insisting on the guidelines for police remand are not followed by the magistrates.
Police are busy politically, though our police have the potentials to be one of the best in dealing with crimes. But the serious crimes are committed by those who know they have political connections to escape. When they are caught in the act publicly only then they could be sure. Then there is power of money to influence the police. The police authority must protect the police as an institution of preventing crime and not be political to lose public trust and their own good name.
Incidents of rape or gang-rape on running bus and other transports have become a regular phenomenon nowadays.
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity said at least 21 women were raped or gang-raped on public transports across the country from January 2017 to January 2018.
The Ain o Salish Kendra said 907 women or girls were raped in first nine months of 2020 while more than 200 were gang raped. Besides, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad claimed 1,093 children and women were raped from January to October the same year where 205 were gang-raped.
On an average, Bangladesh has 11,682 rape incidents per 100,000 people among the total population with 9.82 rape rate. The matter which is very painful for us is that the conviction rate for rape in Bangladesh is below 1 (one) percent. Besides, many incidents are not reported to the police stations by the victims for fear of social stigma and some incidents remain out of knowledge of media due to lack of information.
We still have not forgotten the horrific murder of BUET student Abrar Fahad, Rifat Sharif of Barguna and Nusrat Jahan Rafi in Feni. The number of crimes, including snatching, robbery, cheating, theft, murder, drug trade, woman and child trafficking has increased. In Dhaka’s Pallabi, a man was brutally hacked and killed in front of his six-year-old son, as alleged, by the hired goons of former Lakshmipur-1 lawmaker MA Awal on May 20. Of the killers, two have already been gunned down by RAB and police. It is disturbing that police are taking advantage of gaining through crimes.
It is not unknown there are layers of agencies to keep crimes going and keep people helplessly submissive to fear. We have no experienced political leaders in the government to understand how dangerous situation we are creating for all by ruining institutions of good governance. The government does not need pubic support so the government needs thugs to keep people panicky.
Recently, the managing director of Basundhara Group Sayem Sobhan Anvir and Nazmul Karim Chowdhury Sharun, son of Awami League Whip Shamsul Haque Chowdhry, were accused in abetting suicide of a college girl and a banker respectively. The case is not progressing, police enthusiasm to arrest after crime is over and is also not visible. Even a murder case has also been filed against Sharun.
The people are simmering under thuggish situation prevailing in the country.
