Dowry behind one-third of violence against women [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Dowry behind one-third of violence against women

Local March 08, 2017

Dowry-related offences contribute one-third of violence against women while rape and abduction are two major crimes reported to the police.
Apart from three major crimes, cases are also filed with police stations
for murder and assault of women after rape, according to home ministry statistics prepared by the police.
The statistics showed that 86,519 cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act were pending with various courts across the country until January.
A number of district superintendents of police said that stalking, dowry and drug abuse were the major reasons behind violence against women.
Police headquarters additional deputy inspector general of police (special crimes and prosecution) AFM Masum Rabbani said that among the violence against women, rape worried them most.
According to the home ministry statistics, 16,722 cases were filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act in 2016. The figure was 19,498 in 2015 while 1,038 cases were filed in January 2017.
About 33.82, 31.56 and 30.63 per cent of the cases were filed for dowry-related violence in 2015, 2016 and January 2017 respectively.
The number of rape cases was 3,891 in 2015, 3,700 in 2016 and 232 in January 2017.
‘We are worried about cases despite the number of cases is decreasing gradually,’ said a female police official dealing with the violence against women and children.
According to the statistics, 14 women and girls were killed after rape in 2016 while the number was 28 in 2015.
Incidents of abduction of girls and women are alarming, said the officials.
The number of such cases was 3,966 in 2015, 3,650 in 2016 and 239 in January 2017.
At a crime conference few weeks ago, inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Hoque asked senior police officials to personally supervise the cases of violence against women and children.
Sociologist and rights defenders called for raising massive social awareness on violence against women and said that women should be empowered and educated to fight against violence.
The Dhaka University criminology department professor Zia Islam said that patriarchy lead many fold problems in the society, resulting into violence against women and girls.
Women and girls should be educated and treated equally in the society to curb violence against them, he said, ‘But, awareness building over the role of women in society is a must.’
He said that the country has stringent law but it would fail to protect girls and women unless awareness were built in order to stop dowry, and other means of violence against women.
Rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra acting executive director Nur Khan Liton said that the attitude should be changed to fight violence against women.
Dhaka University sociology teacher Abul Kashem Mohammad Jamal Uddin said that the religious preachers should play role in curbing crimes against women and children as they could reach much people.
According to Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association, 2,481 cases of violence against women – 824 assaults, 459 domestic violence, 434 trafficking, abduction or missing, 251 sexual harassment and 240 rapes – were reported from January to July 2016.
Worst incident went viral on social media when Sylhet Government Women’s College student Khadiza Akhter Nargis, 23, was hacked by ruling Awami League-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Badrul Alam, also a fourth-year economics student at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, in Sylhet on October 3, 2016 over refusal of proposal of affairs. A Sylhet court is scheduled for today to pronounce the verdict in the case.