Words are not enough to portray the spiteful way in which Tuhin Miah, a five-year-old child, was murdered at the Kejaura village of Sunamganj’s Derai upazila on October 14. The disturbing details of the torture and murder would tremble anyone to the core. The murderers left the child’s body hanging from a tree near the family’s house, after stabbing him, slitting his throat, and cutting off his ears and genitals. The killers also left two knives they used to kill him jammed in his abdomen. Such brutality makes us wonder if we still live in the dark ages, in the absence of any law and order. However, in order to effectively bring down the rate of such crimes, it is high time that we seal the legal loopholes through which the criminals escape justice.
From school assemblies to parliaments, we often hear that “children are the torch bearers of our future”. But are we being able to save these innocent lives from predators? The answer can be found in the numbers and statistics. It is dismaying to note that an average of 28 children get murdered and 49 raped in the country every month as reported by Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF). Only on October 11, a man allegedly raped four children in Savar’s Dhamrai upazila, all of them aged between five and seven. The BSAF reported that a total of 4,566 children became victims of different types of violence and torture in 2018. And according to Ain o Salish Kendra, from January to September this year, at least 1,644 children faced violence and 182 of them were murdered. These statistics underline the deep-seated problems in our society and remind us of the perils of child abuse and violence against children.
When the rule of law is inadequate, perpetrators remain unaffected, especially when the authorities concerned respond in a way that does not protect the underprivileged victims. Stricter laws and more vigorous enforcement might help, but they are not enough. It is time for the government to adopt tough legal measures to prosecute violence against children and child abuse cases so that we are able to protect our future generations. The government must come down heavily on all the perpetrators of child violence and make sure that the cases filed against them are disposed of quickly.
Experts have pointed out that diminishing social and family values and a culture of impunity are the primary reasons behind the rising number of rapes and killing incidents. Moreover, because of the social stigma associated with sexual violence, many of the incidents go unreported. In order to decrease the number of rapes and put an end to child sexual abuse, streamlining better processes to facilitate complaints and providing counselling and medical help are imperative. Raising public awareness on recognising and preventing all forms of abuse should be mandatory. The epidemic of sexual abuse of children has long been sidelined in Bangladesh and this must be changed to protect them.
We live in such an economic hierarchy where violence against children is a very common phenomenon. As almost half of the total Bangladeshi children live with poverty, it has become a wall that separates children from their access to basic human rights. Reportedly in most cases, the child victims belong to poor families; therefore they cannot afford long process of court and justice. Thus, perpetrators easily escape the legal procedure. Considering this, legislators and lawmakers should implement special and necessary laws and provisions to ensure the legal punishment of the perpetrators. It is time to build a social security system to protect child rights.
It is time for all including policymakers, legislators, civil society members to step forward to safeguard the rights and safety of our children. It is envisaged that each and every child should get equal access to their basic human rights and needs. We believe that each and every child is a wealth of our country.
Besides implementing laws and provisions and making policies, we also need to educate people about different forms of child abuse and child psychology. Primary school level textbooks should include essays to teach the children and their parents about child abuse. Certainly media can play a significant role in order to hinder child abuse because media has the power to develop an opinion among its viewers alongside constructing behavior and psychology of interpretation.
It is sad but true that we find a plethora of news regarding child killing, child rape, child labour and child torture which are published and broadcast in different print and electronic media but we hardly find any programme or show which are made to create consciousness among mass people on child abuse and violence against children. Also social institutions like schools, mosques, offices, universities etc should integrate their concerted efforts to create consciousness among people against child abuse and violence against children.
Sayeed Hossain Shuvro is Editorial Assistant, Bangladesh Post
