A 21-year-old woman visiting her maternal home in Sylhet city was allegedly gagged and raped by a man on Thursday night.
In her complaint to the police, the woman claimed that she was alone when Aminur Rahman Amir, the accused, barged into the house, tied her mouth with a scarf and forced himself on her.
At the time, the rape survivor’s parents had gone out for dinner with her three-year-old child, according to the complaint.
When her parents returned home around 9:00pm, they found the door of the house locked from inside. However, the accused managed to escape.
Based on the complaint, an FIR for rape has been lodged at Airport Police Station, said Ashrafullah Taher, deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Sexual assaults on women continue unabated in Bangladesh, despite the government introducing death penalty for rapes last year.
A police headquarters report, released recently, said that 26,695 rape cases were filed across the country in the past five years.
Ain o Salish Kendra data shows that 1,018 children were raped last year alone, but only 683 police cases had been filed. Also, 116 survivors were six years old or below.
Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported last year and 53 of the women were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, as per the data.
However, ASK’s data is just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape.
In October 2020, the country was rocked by protests after a woman was allegedly attacked and raped in Noakhali.
In November last year, Bangladesh introduced capital punishment for rape, following days of protests against sexual violence against women in several cities across the country.
But human rights organisations say the move will not solve the country’s rape crisis, as the survivors of the heinous crime are often stigmatised in the society.
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