An act of savagery

As we write this editorial, a young and promising woman is desperately fighting for her life with doctors seeing minimal chances of her surviving. We hope and pray, with the rest of the nation, that they are proved wrong, and that Khadiza Begum Nargis not only survives, but recovers fully. 

The horrific attack on the young woman was perpetrated by a student at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology — one Badrul Alam. The way he attacked her was nothing short of beastly as captured on video by bystanders. In the video, Alam is seen to be hacking the young woman with a meat cleaver in the most brutal way. Shockingly, none of the bystanders came to her aid, perhaps, fearing retribution given the perpetrator's affiliation with the ruling party and the air of impunity ruling party members, in most cases, enjoy.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Chhatra League in a statement tried to distance itself from Alam, despite his Facebook information painting quite a different picture. That the BCL, instead of focusing on condemning his actions, tried to disown him, despite the fact that he is clearly affiliated with the organisation, is shameful. Because when it comes to the rule of law, does it really matter which party he belongs to? Should he not be punished regardless of party affiliation for the savagery he displayed?

This propensity to commit such vicious acts in our society, especially against women and children, is extremely worrying. The air of impunity created over time, particularly because of failures to prosecute ruling party affiliates for their past misdemeanours, must be abolished. To that end, meting out exemplary punishment to Badrul Alam is the least that should be done.