The disturbing footage of a 37-year-old getting sexually assaulted and tortured by a group of youths in Noakhali has again shed light on the escalating wave of violence against women in our country. Anika Khan reports.
Protestors have taken over the streets of Dhaka city since Monday morning, demonstrating these heinous crimes and condemning the justice authorities for failing to take rapid actions against the perpetrators.
Left-leaning students and organizations have jointly staged demonstrations in Shahbagh intersection, Uttara Jashimuddin road, and various other parts of the capital chanting slogans, alleging that rape had been increasing due to the culture of impunity and called out the involvement of political influential quarters in many of these cases.
The local civil societies and Human rights organizations are condemning our flawed criminal justice system for the appalling number of conviction cases. Authorities need to deliver a quicker justice and instigate fear amongst these offenders who are under the notion that they will get away easily.
Although rape is not a context that exists only in the boundary of our subcontinent, incessant victim shaming is. And it is the fear of this stigmatization that keeps women and children from reporting these heinous crimes.
According to government data and statistics, only 3.5 percent of the cases that have been filed under the Prevention of Oppression Against Women and Children 2000 Act from 2001-2020 have met court judgment with only 0.37 percent of the cases ending with convictions.
Ain O Salish Kendra Data revealed 975 reported cases of rape since beginning of 2020. 43 out of them were killed during the rape and 12 more committed suicide after the rape.
Urgent reforms need to ensure that the cases are being properly investigated and the victims and their witnesses are given full support and protection.
Sultana Zakaria from Amnesty International said that, there is a dire need “to speed up the painfully slow trial process.”
