224 girls raped, 133 commit suicide in first 8 months of 2024; experts suggest counselling

In the first eight months of this year (January-August), 224 girls were raped. In the same period, 81 girls were killed and 133 girls committed suicide. The National Girl Child Advocacy Forum disclosed this at a press conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday.

Syeda Ahsana Zaman (Annie), National Coordinator of the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum, said that their media monitoring project of the last eight months has shown different levels and types of abuse directed against the girl child.

At present, the maximum punishment for rape is death, but the crime is still on the rise, she said. In the last eight months, a total of 224 girls have been raped and 32 attempted rapes have been reported. Of these, 134 were single rapist victims and 33 were victims of gang rape. Among the dead were 9 children. Thirty-five girls were "raped in the guise of love."

Ahsana Zaman also said that 81 girls have been killed in the last eight months. One of the reasons for this was family conflict, previous enmity, rape or sexual abuse. In addition, 20 girls died mysteriously. However, the exact reason for the death was not known.

She said the responsibility of suicide lies with the family, society and the state. In the last eight months, 133 girls have committed suicide. The main causes are depression, family discord or conflict, rejection in love, sexual abuse and rape with no shelter to express it without fear.

Syeda Ahsana Zaman said that in the first eight months of this year, 28 girls were sexually harassed and abused, 19 were kidnapped and trafficked, and 187 girls died by drowning. In addition, 10 domestic workers were tortured. Of these, five were victims of physical abuse, one was killed after being abused, and four were victims of sexual abuse.

Barrister Shubhra Chowdhury, an advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, told UNB that there are reasons for the spikes witnessed.

"Deteriorating mental health of girls is responsible for their suicides," Barrister Shubhra said. "In most cases, family and educational institutions play a negative role. Often, girls are not able to tell anyone because of sexual harassment by family members. Victim blaming is accepted though. In this case, he committed suicide. Again, in cases of sexual harassment and bullying by teachers or anyone else, the accused is discharged before trial. Lack of justice is another cause of frustration. They committed suicide from there."

She strongly advocated the role of the family in preventing such tragic outcomes.

"So to prevent these, first of all, the family should stand in a positive way. If there is something in the mind of the children, they have to develop an attitude of resistance against it. Suicide is not a solution, there is a law in the country. The rapist is a criminal, so she should seek justice without any hesitation or fear. That has to be understood. Not only the family, the concerned should come forward to strengthen the enforcement of the law."

Meanwhile, Dr. Tawohidul Haque, Associate Professor and Crime Expert at the Institute of Social Welfare and Research of Dhaka University, suggested counselling as "essential for the improvement of mental health".

"Those who work with psychology can include it in a positive way to teach children about various aspects of family and society," he said, adding: "It should be a collective effort, not an individual effort. Women are naturally sensitive. Therefore, everyone should come forward to make them mentally strong to prevent decisions like suicide."