A youth was arrested on Wednesday for the rape of a 12-year Marma girl, who was raped allegedly by three Bengali youths in Khagrachari Tuesday evening.
National minority activists staged protests in the capital Dhaka, Khagrachari and Rangamati on Wednesday, demanding justice for the victim and exemplary punishment for the rapists.
She was raped on her way back from her tuition Tuesday evening at Singinala of Khagrachari Sadar.
Khagrachari Sadar police officer-in-charge Abdul Baten Mridha told 抖阴精品 that the youth named Shayan Shil, 19, during a joint raid by the police and the army on Wednesday morning.
The victim鈥檚 father filed a case against three youths, including Shayan, for the incident early Wednesday, he said.
Efforts were on to arrest the other accused, added the police officer.
A group of minority youths protested against the incident at a rally organised by the Bangladesh Marma Students鈥� Council at Shahbagh in Dhaka.
Chairing the rally, council general secretary Aung Swe Sing Marma said that minority communities have to repeatedly take to the streets to press their many demands.
鈥極ne of the important demands is ensuring safety of the indigenous women in the hills and plain lands,鈥� he said.
Aung also shared that six cases of violence and sexual harassment against women were reported in the past two months in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and all of the rapists were Bengali men.
The council鈥檚 Dhaka city unit general secretary Usain Marma said that the rape, oppression, and murder of women in the CHT were not isolated incidents, but were part of a blueprint implemented to evict hill people from their lands.
The protesters alleged that they have yet to receive justice for the rapes occurred before in the CHT and blamed the culture of impunity for the continuation of the rape incidents in the hilly areas.
In Khagrachari, a protest march and rally was held Wednesday morning under the banner of 鈥楯umma Chhatra-Janata鈥� demanding arrest and trial of the rapists.
They announced a half-day road blockade in the district for聽 today if the accused were not arrested within 24 hours.
In Rangamati, students and rights activists in a protest march demanded justice for the victim and the exemplary punishment for the accused.
The event was organised by the Pahari Chhatra Parishad and the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation in Rangamati town.
According to the case statements, the victim used to go to tuition every evening and return home at about 9:00pm but she did not return Tuesday evening.
Worried, her parents went to the teacher鈥檚 house only to know she left at 9:00pm as usual.
They started searching the surrounding areas with the help of the local residents. At one point, she was found unconscious in a crop field at about 11:00pm.
Later, she was taken to Khagrachari Sadar Hospital.
