A wave of outrage and concern has emerged following two harrowing incidents of violence against women and children in different regions of the country. While a 13-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly violated in Mymensingh, a young woman in Kushtia succumbed to her injuries under mysterious circumstances following an alleged assault, triggering conflicting accounts from her family members.
In the first incident, which occurred last Thursday in a village located within the Nandail upazila of Mymensingh district, a 58-year-old neighbour was accused of violating a sixth-grade student. According to the case details filed by the victim’s father, the accused had been harassing and propositioning the young girl as she commuted to and from her local secondary school. On the day of the incident, the victim was alone at home while her mother was visiting her maternal grandparents. Taking advantage of the empty house, the perpetrator entered the premises, committed the crime, and fled after threatening the child with death if she disclosed the incident.
Upon returning home, the distraught child narrated the ordeal to her parents. Acting swiftly on a formal complaint lodged by the victim’s father under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on Friday night, local police launched a raid and successfully apprehended the accused.
Meanwhile, a separate tragedy unfolded in Kushtia’s Bheramara upazila, where a young woman passed away late Friday night while undergoing treatment at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. Her family members have alleged that she was subjected to a brutal assault and violation.
Local residents, family members, and law enforcement accounts indicate that the victim had gone out on Tuesday evening to shop and visit a beauty parlour in preparation for her uncle’s wedding. Upon leaving the parlour, she boarded a motorcycle driven by an acquaintance named রাসেল (Rasel). Shortly afterwards, locals discovered her lying in a nearby field and rushed her to the Bheramara Upazila Health Complex before transferring her to Rajshahi for advanced medical care.
Dr Mizanur Rahman, the upazila health and family planning officer, stated that the victim was admitted around 8:30 PM on 15 September, with hospital admission records noting a road accident and vomiting as the primary presenting conditions before she was referred elsewhere the following day.
Conflicting narratives have added complexity to the police investigation. The victim’s family claims her former husband, Abu Bakkar—from whom she was divorced three months prior—along with Rasel and two or three others, orchestrated the assault. On 17 September, the victim’s father filed a police complaint naming Abu Bakkar, Rasel, and several unnamed individuals, citing a physical assault stemming from a prior enmity. However, Superintendent of Police Aminul Islam noted that during interrogations, the victim’s mother and maternal grandmother stated that the young woman had confided in them about being violated by multiple individuals. Authorities are currently reviewing all statements, medical reports, and circumstantial evidence to uncover the truth behind the tragic death.
