5th grader ‘raped’ in Bagerhat, youth arrested

A young man was arrested for allegedly raping a fifth-grader madrasa student in Mollahat of Bagerhat on Wednesday night, reports UNB.

The arrestee is Sujon Hawladar, 23, son of Mostafa Hawladar of Ghoshgathi village in Mollahat upazila.

Bangladesh recently introduced death penalty as the highest punishment for rape but rape and sexual assaults continue to be reported from across the country.

Police said Sujon lured the victim to an abandoned house with promises of food on Wednesday evening and raped her there.

Locals rushed there after hearing the scream of the victim and caught Sujon, said officer-in-charge of Mollahat police station Kazi Golam Kabir.

Later, locals handed him over to police, said the OC.

The victim's father filed a case over the matter.

Nearly a thousand rape incidents, including over 200 gang rapes, were reported between January and September this year, according to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).

Forty-five of the victims were killed after rape and 12 others took their own lives. Three women and nine men were killed for protesting against the incidents of sexual harassment, ASK said.

Bangladesh introduced death penalty for rape on 13 Oct through an ordinance amid waves of anti-rape demonstrations across in the country.

Parliament passed the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2020 on 17 November with death penalty as the highest punishment for rape.