Sixteen given death penalty for burning Bangladeshi teen
SIXTEEN people were sentenced to death on Thursday for burning alive a Bangladeshi teenager who refused to withdraw sexual assault charges against her head teacher.
The case highlights what activ ists say is a cu lt ure of i mpunit y over sexual v iolence in the South Asian count r y of 168 mil l ion people, as wel l a s abuse t hat’s r i fe i n some 20,000 madrasas (religious schools) that educate mostly poor and rura l students.
Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire on April 6 after she made a sexual harassment complaint against t he principa l of her rura l madrasa.
The head teacher, who a court in t he sout hern coasta l tow n of Feni found had ordered the brutal killing f rom ja il af ter being arrested over the harassment claim, was among those sentenced to death.
Others included activ ists from the r uling pa r t y a nd some students – including two girls – who either participated in t he k illing or guarded t he gates of t he madrasa while it took place.
Dhaka’s Daily Star reported t hat police of f icers were stationed outside the Rafi household before the court announced its verdict.
The newspaper noted that a ll the conv icts – except Siraj – were seen screa ming f rom inside t he va n as t hey were d r iven away f rom t he court.
“The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have t he r u le of law,” pr o s e c ut or Ha fe z A h med repor ter s a f ter t he verd ic t crowded courtroom.
Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the madrasa i n Sonaga z i where her attackers pressed her to wit hdraw t he compla i nt she had f i led wit h police.
When she refused, she was tied up, doused in kerosene and set on fire.
She suffered burns to 80 per cent of her body and died in hospital four days later.
Her deat h t r iggered widespread t ol d i n a horror across t he nation, wit h protesters in t he capita l Dhaka staging days of demonst rat ions seek i ng “exempla r y punish ment” for t he k i l lers.
The murder put pressure on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to do more to protect women, with her government ordering some 27,000 schools to set up committees to prevent sexual v iolence.
Ra f i had gone to pol ice i n late
March to repor t t he sex ua l ha ra ssment, a nd a lea ked v ideo shows t he loca l station ch ief reg i ster i ng her compla i nt but d ismissi ng it a s “not a big deal”.
Pol ice sa id t he at t ackers had pla nned to pass of f her deat h a s su ic ide, but t h i s failed after Rafi managed to stagger down the stairs while still engulfed in f la mes.
Act iv ists say many of t he women a nd ch i ld ren who r epor t s e x ua l v iolence i n Ba ng ladesh of ten su f fer a backlash, and that successful prosecutions are rare.
Rafi’s case was fast-tracked, with the hearing ta k ing only 6 2 d a y s a t a s p e c i a l tribunal hearing cases of v iolence aga i nst women a nd children.
Ma lek a Ba nu, head of a woman’s r ig hts g roup, sa id: “It is a n exempla r y punishment. We hope it will send a serious message to the perpet rators a nd col laborators of sexual v iolence.”
She said she hoped the verdict would work as a deterrent a nd wou l d br i n g do w n “alarming rise” in sexual v iolence in t he countr y.
Since t he arrest of t he princ i pa l , at l e a s t f i v e more madrasa teachers have been held on charges of rape and s e x u a l a s s a u l t o f t h e i r students.
T he head of t he Ma h i la
Pa r ishad, a not her women’s rights group, gave a “guarded welcome” at t he quick conclusion of t he case, but said more needed to be done to ensure increased convictions for sex ua l ha ra ssment a nd rape cases.
Accord i ng to t he g roup, t here were 731 i ncidents of sex ua l v iolence repor ted i n t he f i rst si x mont hs of t he year, including 592 rapes, 113 ga ng rapes a nd 26 women who were k i l led a f ter being sexually assaulted.
Researcher Rezaur Rahman Lenin said on average more t ha n 20 0 people a re sentenced to death each year in Ba ng ladesh, a nd as of May around 1,500 people were on death row
The number of executions ca r r ied out is less t han 10 a year.
Defence law yers sa id t hey would appeal against Thursday’s verdict in the high court.