FIVE incidents rape that took place in four days since June 13 in Rajbari, Habiganj, Gazipur and Munshiganj lay bare the pervasive threat that girls and young women face. Two schoolgirls were abducted and raped at Pangsha in Rajpari in the morning on June 15. One of the accused was arrested. Two cases were filed. The driver of a bus and his assistant raped a young woman on a running bus in Habiganj at night on June 15. Local people handed the driver but his assistant fled. A minor girl who works in an apparel factory in Gazipur was raped inside an ATM booth by a security guard. The security guard was arrested later. Another minor girl was raped in Munshiganj on June 13 and two young men were arrested in this connection. Although the arrests suggest that the police can act swiftly, the crimes continue to happen in a system that too often fails to protect the vulnerable. When survivors barely adolescence face such crimes on the road and inside a secure booth, systemic failures remain as culpable as individual offenders.
The distressing frequency of such incidents is made more egregious by the chronic inertia of the justice system, which continues to betray survivors through staggering delays, poor case management and institutional neglect. As of March 31, 148,314 cases filed under the Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Act had been pending, with 35,262 people languishing unresolved for more than five years. A closer look shows that this failure is not merely due to an overburdened court system but is the result of systemic apathy. Prosecutors often show little urgency in pushing cases forward, witnesses are frequently too afraid or unprotected to appear in court and the accused exploit legal loopholes to delay proceedings. A monitoring cell, mandated by a 2016 High Court directive to oversee trial time frame, has been dormant for years. Unless witnesses receive adequate protection and courts and prosecution prioritise the trials, the cycle of violence will only intensify. The government鈥檚 pledge to expedite rape trial should follow concrete measures: expanding the number of tribunals, empowering the monitoring cell, establishing a central secretariat under the Supreme Court and rapidly scaling up forensic laboratories so that evidence reaches investigators without delay.
The authorities should overhaul the justice delivery system to safeguard women and children. By enforcing laws, providing comprehensive witness protection and bolstering specialised tribunals and forensic capacity, the government can begin to restore public confidence in the system. A decisive, system-wide response is needed to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice expeditiously and the victims do not wait for years for justice.
