Despite strict laws against abuse and sexual assault, it appears women in Bangladesh continue to be repressed. From rape to murder, several cases of abuse against women have come to light in the country since the beginning of this year.
A 19-year-old girl, Nushrat Jahan Rafi was set ablaze by fellow-students of her Madarsa after she accused the headmaster of her school of molestation.
Now, a 35-year-old man, Bablu Mondal was arrested because he shaved off his wife’s head. Police raided a village in the northwestern district of Joypurhat after the villagers lodged a complaint about the incident.
As reported by The Indian Express, the local police chief Shahriar Khan said:
“He found a human hair in the rice and milk breakfast his wife prepared for him. He became angry seeing the hair and blamed the wife. He then took a blade and forcibly shaved the head of the wife.”
Bablu was charged with ‘voluntarily causing grievous hurt’, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. He was also charged for ‘outraging the modesty’ of his wife, reports Daily Mail.
The incident has come to light amidst the massive outrage from the human rights groups opposing the violence and sexual harassment against women in the country.
The local right group, Ain o Salish Kendra, has also put forth shocking statistics and stated that there were an of average three rapes a day in the first six months of the year. The group also said that 630 women were raped in the first six months of 2019 in the country, 37 were killed after the assault while seven others committed suicide. Additionally, there were 105 instances of attempted rape in Bangladesh until June this year.
The count and nature of assaults against women in Bangladesh is truly heartbreaking. We hope stricter laws are made to protect women from such horrifying crimes.