Alarming rise in child killing

The rate of children being killed in the country had increased by 61 percent in 2014 than that of the previous year, according to a statistics of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) and it's not looking good at all for this year either.

Based on newspapers' reports, the BSAF said at least 191 children were killed till this July, 350 in 2014, 218 in 2013 and 209 in 2012.

The leading network of child rights organisation expressed concern, saying incidents of brutalities against children in different forms are increasing every year. At least 968 children were killed after brutal torture from 2012 to July 2015.

This year, incidents of murder, kidnap, human trafficking, rape, sexual harassment and violence against children are also on the rise, the BSAF noted.

Following the recent gruesome murders of three children, NGOs, law enforcers, rights organisations and international organisations have expressed serious concern over child abuse in Bangladesh.

Thirteen-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon was beaten to death in Sylhet last month; twelve-year-old Rakib was tortured to death in Khulna on August 3, as two men inserted a high-pressure air pump nozzle into his rectum; and 10-year-old Rabiul was beaten to death for “stealing fish” in Barguna on Wednesday.

Besides, the body of a minor boy, aged around eight to nine years, was found in an abandoned travel bag in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital last week. The boy was beaten to death, said sources at the DMC morgue after an autopsy.

BSAF Director Abdus Shahid Mahmood said most of the victims of violence were child workers, mostly from underprivileged families.

“Though this sort of incidents also happened in the past, the number is on the rise, and the nature of torture is becoming worse,” he said.

“The reason being people do not see perpetrators getting punished,” he said, adding that perpetrators do not even get arrested in many instances.

Even if perpetrators are brought to trial, the lengthy legal process erodes public interest in the case, he said, adding, “Sometimes the charge sheet submitted by the police is so weak that criminals get out through the loopholes of law.”

Citing Rajon's case in which some police officials were suspended, he said such departmental actions were not enough. “Punishment has to be visible and cases of violence against children should be brought under the speedy trial tribunal.”

Expressing disappointment over the delayed submission of charge sheets in the cases of recent brutality against women and children, distinguished personalities and many national and international organisations urged the government to speed up trial of these cases.

Unicef, the parliamentary standing committee on women and children affairs ministry and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Mizanur Rahman, among others, expressed their concern over the delayed trials of the perpetrators who committed these crimes.

Speaking at a conference on Thursday, the NHRC chairman said that the sudden rise in the brutal killing of minors was a reflection of the existing culture of impunity and a break-down of the rule of law in the society.

Fair trial would bring back people's trust in the rule of law, he said.

However, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki said the incidents of repression against children and women are now affecting the people more as media are focusing on these issues.