SEVEN girls were raped in six districts, including Kurigram, Jashore, Habiganj, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Kushtia, in the last three days, the newspaper reported. Of them, a woman living in Tangail, came to Kurigram looking for her relatives. The criminals took her to a deserted char area with a promise to help her and raped her.
In Jashore, a ninth-grader became reportedly pregnant after rape, police said. A local man, first raped the girl on February 14, and continued to do so on several occasions. The girl’s mother filed a case on Wednesday against the rape suspects. A 10-year-old fourth-grader was raped in the Lakhai Upazila of Habiganj. She was rushed to the Habiganj Sadar Hospital in a critical condition in the late hours of Thursday.
According to newspaper report, RAB arrested a man in Rangpur for his alleged involvement in the gang-rape of two indigenous schoolgirls on Friday. One indigenous girl committed suicide. In Mymensingh, a third grader was allegedly violated by a neighbour in the Bhaluka Upazila on Wednesday. A differently abled teen becomes pregnant after being allegedly raped in the Chourhash area of the Sadar Upazila in Kushtia. The victim’s family found the girl to be five months pregnant after a medical test on April 23. On the other hand, police arrested a man for raping a woman in Rangamati on Thursday.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the Parliament that from January 2014 to December 2017, a total of 17,289 cases of women and child rapes were recorded in the country. Undoubtedly, the number has increased in the meantime. Despite strong laws against it, rape is still one of the silent brutal sexual offences. Apart from increasing number, the rapists in the course of time have also become violent. Incident of Nusrat is its brightest example.
We think there is no way but to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of rape to the fullest extent of law. At the same time, public awareness against rape and other sexual harassment should be created among the common people.
