LAW
week
50
injured as Bangla Bhai's men clash with police
At
least 50 people, including eight policemen, were injured
in clashes between police and Bangla Bhai-led Jagrata
Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) at Bhabaniganj in Bagmara.
Reinforcements
from the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), the Rajshahi police
line and three neighbouring police stations were involved
in the clashes, which ensued after police foiled a JMJB
attempt to organise a procession in protest against the
lynching of three JMJB men.
Police
rounded up 64 JMJB cadres for clashing with police, but
did not detain any of the leaders who led the attacks.
Since being barred for the first time by law enforcement
agencies, JMJB men have started gathering arms and recruiting
armed cadres from different parts of the country, sources
said.
Some
30 persons were also injured in the bomb attack. Nine
of them were admitted to RMCH with splinter wounds to
their bodies, including their heads, faces, and eyes.
The Daily Star,
January 25.
Legal
safety net for women
Domestic violence, especially spousal abuse, can decline
significantly if the government launches an effective
awareness campaign and establishes a strong legal framework,
according to human rights experts. The government should
also ensure a legal safety net for women to stop spousal
abuse which is rampant in the country, they said.
According
to a survey report by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers
Association (BNWLA), 155 women were killed by their husbands
and another 35 women tortured last year. But the number
of cases filed is far less -- only five for torture and
60 for murder.
The
Oxfam, an international non-government organisation, in
a research found that 47 percent of women fall victim
to physical abuse in their homes. While it is commonly
believed that economic dependency makes women vulnerable
to abuses, the Oxfam found that 32 percent of working
women are abused.
"The
government is not working actively to stop domestic violence,
fearing that such steps might affect the election results,"
said Sultana Kamal, president of Ain O Shalish Kendra.
The Daily Star,
January 25.
Chaos
at Sylhet over HC judge's ticket row
Railway
employees stopped Dhaka-bound inter-city train Parabat
for three hours at Sylhet station and ransacked six compartments
of the train after police arrested the station manager
for not providing tickets as demanded by an additional
judge of the High Court.
Station
Manager Nurul Islam apologised for his failure to provide
tickets but Justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury ordered the
officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali Police Station to arrest
him.
Train
service resumed as the agitated employees lifted the barricade
after the station manager's release on bail. But many
passengers in the meantime went back home cancelling their
journey amid the chaos at the station and uncertainty
over the train communication. The
Daily Star, January 27.
Kibria,
4 AL men killed in grenade attacks
Former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria and four other
Awami League (AL) activists were killed in a grenade attack
in Habiganj. About 70 others were injured in the grisly
attack, similar to the August 21 carnage on Sheikh Hasina's
rally in the capital last year that had claimed 23 lives
and left several hundred wounded.
The
four other dead were identified as Kibria's nephew Shah
Manjurul Huda, 40, and AL activists Siddique Ali, 35,
and Abdur Rahim, 50, of Bongaon village and Abul Hossain
of Shayestaganj. The AL called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk
hartal for tomorrow protesting the attack. Kibria died
on the way to Dhaka and doctors at Birdem Hospital declared
him dead at about 12:30am, soon after he was taken to
the hospital. Kibria spoke as the chief guest at the meeting
organised by Laskarpur Union unit of AL. Prothom
Alo, January 28.
Corresponding
with the Law Desk
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