Protests against the alleged rape of a 12-year-old Marma girl in Khagrachari continued on Friday in Dhaka and in the hill districts of Khagrachari and Rangamati.
Protesters in Khagrachari on the day announced a dawn-to-dusk road blockade in the district for today demanding exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.
The protesters alleged that the members of the law enforcement agencies illegally picked up Ukyanu Marma, one of the leaders of the movement under the banner of 鈥楯umma Chhatra Janata鈥�, and tortured him Thursday night.
The protesters said that the police were unable to arrest the two accused even after three days of the incident and blamed the culture of impunity for the continuation of the rapes occurring in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Khagrachari Sadar police station officer-in-charge Abdul Baten Mridha said that they had taken the 19-year-old arrestee Shayan Shil in custody for five days and had been interrogating him.
Efforts were on to arrest the other accused, added the police officer.
The police officials in the district said that the 12-year-old victim was discharged from the hospital after treatment and necessary tests.
Addressing an event in Rangamati on the day, Chakma circle chief Raja Devasish Roy said that every government in the country had failed to take adequate actions to protect women from sexual violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
鈥業 hope the government will treat the issue seriously and take strict action against such crimes,鈥� he said while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Dr Ramendu Shekhar Dewan Memorial Football Tournament 2025 in Rangamati.
In Dhaka, national minority students and rights activists at a protest rally under the banner of 鈥楢divasi Chhatra Janata鈥� held at Raju Sculpture demanded the immediate arrest of the rapists.
Addressing the rally, Parbatya Chattogram Jana Samhati Samiti central member Dipayan Khisa demanded to bring the officers who picked up Ukyanu illegally to book.
DU student Surmi Chakma demanded immediate arrest of the rapists and providing security to all women, including ethnic minority women in the hills and plain lands.
In Khagrachari, several hundred people came together on the day and participated in demonstrations under the banner 鈥楯umma Chhatra Janata鈥�, demanding justice for the 12-year-old victim, who was raped allegedly by three Bengali youths while she was returning home from tuition in Khagrachari鈥檚 Singinala on September 23.
At the rally, protesters announced the dawn-to-dusk road blockade in Khagrachhari for today, pressing their two-point demand.
If the demands were not met, the protesters threatened tougher movement after Durga Puja.
Meanwhile, PCJSS-backed Pahari Chhatra Parishad and Hill Women鈥檚 Federation on the day protested at the rape at Ghagra Bazar in Rangamati鈥檚 Kawkhali.
