Society At Large

On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building, collapsed in Savar. The search for the dead ended on May 13 with the death toll of 1,129. Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued from the building alive.It is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.photos: star

Attacks on minorities spread throughout Bangladesh.

Jharna Begum got wide media coverage after rescuing the injured police officer SI Jahangir Alam from the grip of Jamaat-Shibir activists during a hartal on April 1.

Aduri's tale was a harrowing one. The 11-year-old girl was subjected to blade cuts and burns by her employers. Apart from those, they used to beat her. She had been working as a housemaid for several months in Dhaka's Pollobi before finding herself abandoned in a trash can! When police rescued her from a place which, by and large, is a cafeteria of dogs, cats and several other animals, they found her almost dead. This cruel tale last year had left many of us dumbfounded.

A court in Dhaka in November awarded death to 152 and life imprisonment to 161 for their role in the February 2009 carnage at Pilkhana headquarters of the then BDR. photo: star

In December, Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 awarded life sentence to 8 and life imprisoment to 13 for role in the murder of the tailor Bishwajit Das in Old Dhaka during a shutdown called by the Opposition. photo: anisur rahman

Police arrested six people in connection with the killing Mostafa Hawlader, a prosecution witness in the case against the condemned Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee for crimes against humanity. Some 200 Jamaat-Shibir supporters ransacked and looted his house in broad daylight. photo: anisur rahman