Female tourist gang raped in B'desh

Dhaka, Dec 25 (IANS) A female tourist has been allegedly gang raped in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district after her husband and son were taken hostage by the perpetrators.

A group of men took the victim's husband and child hostage from the Laboni Point area and allegedly raped her several times.

RAB-15 Commander Lt Col Khairul Islam told IANS that officials of the elite paramilitary unit rescued the victim from Zia Guest Inn at around 1.30 a.m. on Thursday.

The elite force detained the hotel manager and identified the perpetrators after checking video footage from a CCTV camera.

A manhunt has been launched to arrest the criminals.

Hamimun Tanjin, a Senior Judicial Magistrate of Cox's Bazar, recorded the victim's statement at around 5 p.m. on Friday, Law Minister Anisul Huq told IANS.

"Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators of the crime," the Minister added.

owever, no arrests were made by police until Friday night.

Women's rights activists and legal experts told IANS that the country still lacks a strong legislation that will work as a safeguard against rape.

They demanded justice for the rape victims of the country and also called upon the authorities to introduce sex education from an early age.

"For the last 50 years, we're fighting for the legal right of women. Still, police used to accuse the rape victim; instead of controlling the crime, even denied filing a case against those accused. However, we're thankful to RAB, the elite force of the police. If they're not, the criminals were not identified even. It's of course not enough; without exemplary punishment of the perpetrators, rapid action to collect the evidence, rape cannot be stopped," Nurjahan Khan, Executive Director of LEERHO, told IANS.

"Police must receive the cases filed by the rape victims besides cooperating the rape victims to get quick medical support, as they can produce the evidence before the court. Instead of supporting the victim, the local police of Cox's Bazar blamed the victim, also some of the newspapers published the attacking comment of police against the rape victim, it is a very sad scenario of our society where law enforces are supporting crime like rape," Makhduma Nargis Ratna, vice President of Bangladesh Mahila Parisad, told IANS.

Although the two rights defenders have said that women empowerment has increased by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, women in the country were still not secure if the rapists are not punished in each and every incident.

The perpetrators must go through strict legal action, which police should never deny.

Incidents of rape in recent months have raised serious concerns over the safety of women in Bangladesh with the country witnessing an average of three cases daily in the first 11 months of 2021.

At least 1,247 women were raped in the January-November period, while 286 faced attempts, Ain O Salish Kendra revealed on Thursday.

Forty-six of them died, while nine committed suicides.