No official figures are yet available for 2019, but one human rights organisation estimates the number of rapes doubled to about 1,500 last year.
Written by Naimul Karim, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Dhaka, Jan 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Bangladesh’s government will set up a commission to investigate a sharp rise in the number of rapes, the deputy attorney general said on Monday, after the country’s top court ordered it to act.
Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud said it was clear that the number of rapes had risen as he promised to abide by the court’s directive, delivered on Sunday.
No official figures are yet available for 2019, but human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) estimates that the number of rapes doubled to about 1,500 last year. It based the estimate on media reports and the complaints it handled.
“You can’t deny that the number of rapes has increased,” Mahmud told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We have taken this directive on a positive note and the government won’t just sit idly. It will try its best to tackle this problem.”
Women’s rights groups have also said the incidence of sexual violence is rising, blaming a failure to implement the law that has led to a culture of impunity for such crimes.
