Police are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of death of an 11-year-old mentally unstable child from Pakundia in Kishoreganj, who was found hanging from a litchi tree near her house last week.
The incident took place at Narandi village of the upazila on Tuesday (July 8) afternoon. Police recovered her body around 5pm.
Locals said Sumona used to loiter around all day long. On Tuesday morning, the mother rebuked her for some reason. She might have committed suicide because of the humiliation.
Some others, however, speculated that she might have been killed after rape and the perpetrators hanged her body to stage a suicide.
Mahila Parishad, human rights groups condemn rising rape of women and girls
Why are Yunus supporters welcoming women abusers with garlands?
Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Sakhawat Hossain could not confirm the reason behind her death. He said the body was sent to Kishoreganj Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College for an autopsy. The report will be available soon, he added.
Human rights organisations, experts, and social media activists are expressing profound outrage and concern over the escalating violence against women and girls, mainly rape and gang rape.
These crimes reflect a broader surge in violence against women since August 2024, which rights groups attribute to a collapse in law enforcement and state-tolerated mob violence involving radical groups and political thugs.
According to Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) data, 363 cases of violence against women and children occurred in June. There were 63 rape cases, 17 gang rapes, and four rapes and murders. Of the 63, seven were disabled, 19 were children, and 23 were teenagers.
There were 59 rape cases in the country in May.
On the other hand, two children, seven teenagers, and eight women were victims of gang rape, and one teenager and three women were victims of rape and murder.
There were 27 attempted rapes, 39 cases of sexual harassment, and 51 cases of physical abuse.
On July 2, Rafiqul Islam, a mentally disabled person, was tied to a tree and beaten to death by local BNP workers in Jhikargachha, Jashore, for expressing anger against Muhammad Yunus over the cessation of social safety net allowance.
He was not involved in politics. Rather, locals said that he was only protesting to get his allowance back.
English