After battling for her life for a week, an 8-year-old rape victim died at around 1:00 pm on 13th March at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka. She was brought there in a critical condition on 8th March. Now, demonstrations have been sparked nationwide by the occurrence. The husband of her older sister was taken into custody and placed on remand along with his brother and parents. She was reportedly raped by her sister’s father-in-law.
According to the case her mother filed, the little girl was raped somewhere between the evening of 5th March and the next morning while she was at her older sister’s home in Magura. At night, she went to bed with her sister but disappeared in the middle of the night and the latter started looking for her. She was discovered unconscious a few yards from the house following a desperate search.
After being hospitalized to Magura General Hospital, her condition deteriorated and she was later sent to Faridpur Medical College Hospital. She was moved to the Combined Military Hospital after being transferred to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The girl experienced three cardiac arrests in the morning while on life support at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), per the statement. Doctors were able to stabilize her twice, but after the third, she lost her pulse.
She already suffered multiple cardiac arrests, including four a day earlier. Her body was transported by helicopter to Magura stadium at approximately 5:15 pm and was buried hours later close to her home in Jaria village in the district’s Sreepur upazila.
Meanwhile, an angry mob descended upon Hitu Sheikh’s house, the primary accused, at Nijnanduali village in Sadar upazila and set it on fire on the same evening. On their individual campuses, university students, including those from Dhaka University, staged protests calling for the accused to be executed. Sojib Sheikh (20), his brother Ratul Sheikh (25) and their parents Hitu Sheikh (50) and Jabeda Begum (40) were nabbed on 8th March.
The main accused was put on a seven-day remand by a Magura court, while the other three were placed on five-day remands each. The high court mandated that the lower court finish the case trial within six months. Additionally, it instructed that the case’s investigation be finished within 30 days and that a report be submitted in response.
Students from Dhaka University, North South University, Independent University and Rajshahi University, among others agitated against the rising rape incidents. The “University Teachers’ Network” also hosted a meeting last week at Dhaka University’s Aparajeyo Bangla, where instructors and students from six universities around the country participated, in protest of the growing number of gender-based violence cases in Bangladesh.
The demonstrators criticized government shortcomings, addressed the underlying reasons of the persistent violence against women, and denounced it. Professor Tasneem Siraj Mahboob of Dhaka University emphasized that she had urged months ago that Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the Home Affairs Advisor should be fired. “Resignation is an honourable exit. He doesn’t deserve that honour,” she expressed.
“I thought my daughter would survive. If she had made it through, I would never have let her go anywhere alone again,” the minor girl’s mother voiced. Dhaka University also had an absentee funeral for the girl, which was concluded by a protest march and speeches by female students. Numerous demonstrators called on the government to change legislation pertaining to the safety of women and children and to accelerate justice for rape victims. Furthermore, protesters demanded more clarity regarding Bangladesh’s legal definitions of rape, which they asserted were presently ambiguous.
On the other hand, protests were banned in Bangladesh in view of the unfortunate development. “In the interest of maintaining public order, any kind of meeting, rallies, mass gathering, processions, etc., are prohibited in the Bangladesh Secretariate and the Honourable Chief Advisor’s residence in Jamuna and surrounding areas (Hotel Intercontinental intersection, Shahbagh intersection, Kakrail intersection, Minto Road) from today, Thursday, March 13, 2025, until further orders, pursuant to the powers conferred under section 29 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance,” the authorities declared.
According to a 2020 law, raping a minor in Bangladesh carries a death sentence. A slew of high-profile sexual violence instances, such as the vicious gang rape on a 37-year-old woman that was captured on camera and shared on social media, preceded the enactment of that law. At least three rapes of children of similar ages in other parts of Bangladesh were reported in the media less than a week after the young girl in Magura was raped. Some of the accused were the victim’s neighbors, while others were close relatives.
The Law and Arbitration Center reports that throughout the past eight years, 3,438 child rape cases have been filed in Bangladesh, with many more rape victims. Of these, 933 are between the ages of seven and twelve, while at least 539 are younger than six. Children are typically sexually molested or raped by individuals they know, according to research. “Society is descending into chaos, where lawlessness and criminal impunity are growing. The failure of law enforcement, compromises, and lack of accountability are empowering criminals,” pointed out Fauzia Moslem, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.
