Rapist on the loose

A UP chairman in Noakhali, accused of beating and raping a woman, is roaming around freely. With  rape on the rise across the country, it is not clear why police had initially refused to register the case and needed persuasion from locals to do so eventually. It is even more disturbing that the police, reportedly, is now making no real effort to catch the perpetrator.

The case is a stark reminder of the reality that regardless of where—be it urban cities or rural villages—a crime as ghastly as rape occurs, the perpetrators enjoy impunity if they belong to the powerful section of society. It is exactly what happened in relation to the recent incidents or rapes in Bogra and Banani, in which policemen arrested powerful perpetrators only after intense public outrage.

The victim is now at a hospital awaiting forensic test, while the chairman's men are threatening her elderly parents to withdraw the case or otherwise face eviction  from the village. Her elder sister claimed that those men even offered them Tk 3 lakh for settlement of the case.

In our country, more than 98 percent of rape cases end up without any conviction. With the perpetrator being powerful, victims intimidated, and a settlement already offered, this particular incident appears destined to meet the same fate.

Unless we make our laws, systematic procedures, and above all, societal perception more favourable towards rape victims rather than the perpetrators, we risk letting one of the most heinous types of criminals of our society continue to go scot-free.