Fierce protests as eight-year-old rape victim dies in Bangladesh

 

An eight-year-old child who was raped in Bangladesh died of her injuries on Thursday, setting off fierce protests around the country.

The girl was raped while visiting her elder sister's house in the city of Magura some time between the night of 5 March and the following morning, according to a case filed by her mother.

The elder sister's 18-year-old husband, along with his parents and brother, were arrested and placed on remand.

On Thursday night, after hearing news of the child's death, an angry mob descended on the house where the incident is alleged to have taken place, setting it on fire.

The girl died at about 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday after suffering three cardiac arrests, according to a statement by the government's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department.

"Although doctors managed to stabilize the condition twice, the heart failed to restart after the third episode," the statement said.

She had spent six days in a critical condition at the Combined Military Hospital in the capital Dhaka, after being admitted on 8 March.

"I thought my daughter would survive," her mother said following the girl's death, according to local media. "If she had made it through, I would never have let her go anywhere alone again."

The girl's body was taken back to Magura in an army helicopter, which landed at the local stadium around 18:00 to fierce protests.

Aiyub Ali, officer-in-charge of Magura Sadar Police Station, said that authorities struggled to bring the situation under control, according to local news outlet The Daily Star.

Thousands of people gathered in the public square in Magura for the girl's namaz-e-janaza, the Islamic funeral prayer, before she was laid to rest at 19:30.

 

An absentee funeral was also held for the girl at Dhaka University, in the nation's capital, followed by a protest march and speeches by female students.

Many protesters demanded that the government expedite justice for rape victims and reform laws related to women and children's safety.

Protesters also called for greater clarity around the legal definitions of what constitutes rape in Bangladesh, which they said were currently ambiguous.

The trial of the rape and murder case is expected to begin within the next seven days, according to legal advisor Asif Nazrul.

"DNA sample collection has been completed, we hope to get the report within the next five days," Mr Nazrul told a press briefing at the Secretariat on Thursday – adding that statements had already been taken from 12 to 13 people.

"If we can start the trial within seven days, our judges will be able to ensure justice with the utmost speed," he added.

The rape of minors is punishable by death in Bangladesh, as per a law that was passed in 2020.

The introduction of that law followed a series of high-profile sexual violence cases, including the brutal gang assault on a 37-year-old woman that was filmed and spread on social media.

Less than a week after the rape of the young girl in Magura, media reports emerged of at least three rapes of children of around the same age in different parts of Bangladesh.

In some cases the accused were neighbours of the victim, while others were close relatives.

According to statistics from the Law and Arbitration Center, 3,438 child rape cases have been filed in Bangladesh in the last eight years, and there have been many more rape victims.

At least 539 of them are under the age of six, and 933 are between the ages of seven and twelve.

Research has shown that in most cases, children are sexually abused or raped by people they know.