Comilla, Dec 22 – A Cumilla court on Tuesday sent a teenager to prison for allegedly raping a schoolgirl after kidnapping her in Brahmanpara Upazila of the district.
The accused was identified as Md Hakim alias Ador, 18, son of Murunnabi of the Upazila, said Officer-in-Charge of Brahmanpara Police Station Kazi Nazmul Haque.
He said the victim testified against Hakim before the court on Tuesday.
According to the case statement, Hakim had been stalking the girl and kidnapped her on December 17 when she was going to school.
He had raped the victim repeatedly after confining her at different places.
Police and victim’s relatives nabbed Hakim from Harimangal area on Monday.
Later at night, the victim’s mother filed a case over the matter.
Change to rape law
The government has recently amended the law with death penalty as the highest punishment for rape.
The much-talked-about ‘Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ was passed in Parliament on November 17.
Countrywide protests against sexual violence against women, sparked by gang-rape incidents at MC college and another in Noakhali, prompted the government to make the much-needed change.
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.
Numerous incidents of sexual assaults go unreported in the country. Experts say a strict implementation of the law is needed to deter incidents of rape and other forms of violence against women. – UNB
