On June 7, a special court sentenced Sohel Rana, the prime accused, and his wife Swapna Khatun (who helped him escape) to death for the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter. The brutality of the incident, with the rapist first killing the child then severing her head in an attempt to hide the body, created public outrage. Charges were framed on June 1.
On June 22, a Jhenaidah court sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a four-year-old girl. The man had lured the child to his room with chips and juice. He then raped her, which resulted in her death. He had hidden the body in a sack inside the septic tank of a nearby school.
It should give one some satisfaction that in both cases the courts completed judicial proceedings in a matter of days, which is almost miraculous, as the conviction rate of cases of rape and murder after rape is less than 1 percent in the country. According to the judge presiding over the Ramisa murder case, the special tribunal under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act had more than 1800 cases pending, each involving violence against children, including physical and sexual abuse. The recent arrests and also convictions of men accused of rape or rape and murder are signs that the legal system is capable of moving fast. However, speed should not compromise the thoroughness of investigation and evidence gathering. Whether these speedy trials were a result of social media outrage or emphasis from the prime minister is therefore another disturbing issue that needs to be explored.
But even a quick sentencing or prompt arrest of the accused cannot change the number of incidents around the country. Odhikar has recorded at least 5,942 minor girls being raped between January 2016 and March 2026. Of them, 1,018 were victims of gang-rape, 236 were murdered after the assault, and 44 died by suicide. And these are just the ones reported in the media. Seven-year-olds, five-year-olds, even babies—girls mostly but also boys—are becoming victims of sexual predators. This perverse phenomenon is happening all around the world. The only difference is that while in Western countries it has been long-recognised, in our society most people are still in denial. The stigma associated with rape and fear of repercussions from the perpetrator often ensures the child’s, and its family’s, silence. Often the family decides to keep it secret as honour becomes more important than justice. Shame sticks to the one who is raped, not the rapist.
An investigation by Dhaka Stream shows how the digital space is being used to facilitate and encourage pedophilia without any legal consequences. It discovered numerous Facebook groups with thousands of members where images of young girls were shared. Horrifying comments with men implicitly encouraging others to engage in sex with those children, some in their school uniforms, were posted. The Stream reported that removing one social media group would not really make much difference, as new groups were cropping up all the time, quickly getting thousands of followers. As a psychologist interviewed in their report revealed, these groups had created a “community” with the same interest—sexualising children. Members of such groups seem to encourage each other’s deviant ideas and find child victims to abuse offline.
Bangladesh’s Pornography Control Act 2012 criminalises the production, distribution, and storage of pornographic materials with 7 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to Tk 200,000 for violations. Yet when offenders use mainstream social media platforms (such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram) to groom children, exchange links, or organise private groups and share sexually exploitative material, the legal recourses are unclear. We need specific laws that will help to permanently bar any group on social media or any other digital platform that promotes pedophilia.
So how can we protect our children from this terrifying onslaught that can take place anywhere—in the streets, at educational institutions, and more frighteningly, at home? For starters, we need to educate ourselves and get guidance from experts such as child psychologists on how to talk to our children about sexual abuse. UNICEF has very detailed guidelines on various aspects of this awareness process.
We need to have discussions with our children when they are very young about boundaries, consent, and privacy, and which parts of the body should not be touched by anyone. We must look out for red flags such as sudden changes in behaviour or physical state in the child—depression, not being social, lack of concentration in school, nightmares, unexplainable fear, frequent urinary tract infection, feeling ashamed. We must realise the abuser could be anyone–even a parent or close relative. Monitoring their online activity is also very important, and knowing who they socialise with online and offline.
Schools (including madrasas) too have a huge role in creating awareness and making sure every child is safe, any harassment of a child is reported, and action is taken against the perpetrator. Lessons explaining what constitutes sexual abuse have to be part of the curriculum in all educational institutions. The legal system, starting from the police to the court judges, has to ensure that child survivors are treated with dignity, respect, and sensitivity, that cases are thoroughly investigated and trials are held quickly with the predators brought to justice. Public interest ads on child sexual abuse are an effective way to create awareness.
The frightening number of children raped and murdered after rape is a cruel reminder of how little we have done as a society to protect our children. The government must ensure legal support and protection of the survivor and the victim’s family. Awareness of this crime must be widespread and reach all communities, especially with lower-income households where children have an added layer of vulnerability. The recent instances of individuals being attacked by mobs on suspicion of sexually assaulting children will never ensure justice and may even obstruct it when an innocent is targeted. As a society, we must stop treating such crimes against children as isolated tragedies and recognise them as a national crisis. This demands action from families, schools, communities, and the state.
Aasha Mehreen Amin is joint editor at The Daily Star.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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