MSF report: Rise in rape and killing in mob beating in June, no decline in number of unidentified bodies

The number of incidents of rapes and killings in mob beatings has increased in the country in June. Incidents of gang rape and violence against women have also not decreased in the month. Physical abuse and assault have also risen.

Since May, the trend of recovering unidentified bodies has increased, with only a slight decline observed in June. Political violence-related deaths have also not declined.

These findings were presented in the June human rights report by Manobadhikar Sanskriti Foundation (MSF), a human rights organisation, published on Monday.

MSF prepared the report based on information gathered from over 20 national and local newspapers as well as their own investigation.

According to the MSF report, there were 363 incidents of violence against women and children in June, just five fewer than the previous month. There were 63 incidents of rape, 17 of gang rape, and four involving rape followed by murder.

Among the victims were seven girls and women with disabilities. In May, 59 rapes had been reported.

Among the 63 rape victims this month, 19 were children and 23 teenagers. In the gang rape cases, two were children, seven teenagers, and eight adult women.

In the rape and murder cases, one was a teenage girl and three were women. There were 27 attempted rapes, 39 incidents of sexual harassment, and 51 cases of physical assault.

According to the MSF report, at least 41 incidents of mob beatings occurred in June, resulting in 10 deaths and 47 critical injuries while 30 victims were handed over to the police in injured condition.

Among the 10 killed: two were accused of robbery, three suspected of theft, one accused of murder, two of theft and two were accused of child abuse and rape.

Of the 47 injured were beaten, one was on accusation of murder, five for rape or attempted rape, three for sexual harassment, four for mugging, 17 for affiliation with the banned Awami League, and 15 others on accusation of various other crimes like extortion, abduction, fraud, and verbal abuse.

Speaking about this, Supreme Court lawyer and prominent human rights activist Shahdeen Malik told Prothom Alo that mob violence is increasing across the country, often leading to killings.

He attributed this to government inaction and internal divisions among those in power.

In May, MSF reported 34 incidents of mob beating resulting in seven deaths. Compared to that, June has seen an increase in deaths.

MSF executive director Saidur Rahman said, “We believe there is government patronisation behind the rise of mobs. Forming a mob is a criminal offence. But the government does not say anything to thwart people from this. The chief adviser, home adviser, law adviser - no one makes any public statements condemning it. Rather, we have heard the chief adviser’s press secretary say these are not mobs, but ‘pressure groups’. This only encourages such injustice.”

MSF insists that simply stating an unidentified body has been recovered is not enough. Authorities must work to know their identities and bring perpetrators, no matter how powerful they are, to justice.

According to MSF, 49 unidentified bodies were recovered in June. The rights body described this as a troubling and significant contributor to public insecurity. Most of those bodies remain unidentified. The number of bodies was 55 in May.

Most of these bodies were found floating in rivers or ponds, along the highways, under bridges, near railway tracks, in fields, or in abandoned areas. A few bodies were found with slit throats, or in sacks and bloodied.

Shahdeen Malik remarked that the increase in unidentified bodies is deeply concerning.

He noted that maybe either the police are not accepting information about missing persons or families are unable to provide it.

Either way, the growing number of such bodies indicates a deterioration in the country’s law and order situation, the Supreme Court’s senior lawyer insisted.