It was a quiet evening in Tangail when 16-year-old Sumaiya was walking home from tutoring. She never made it. The next morning, her lifeless body was found in a roadside ditch, her innocence stolen, her voice silenced. Her family, like countless others before them, is now trapped in an endless cycle of court visits, futile hearings, and the unbearable weight of injustice.
Rape in Bangladesh is no longer a series of isolated incidents -- it is a crisis. From Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Comilla, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Feni, Bogura, Jashore, Pabna, Kushtia, and beyond, women and girls live in constant fear, knowing that if they become victims, justice is unlikely.
The law, meant to protect, has instead become a shield for the perpetrators. Cases drag on for years, sometimes over a decade, while victims and their families lose hope. Even when convictions are secured, rapists often walk free after a few years due to loopholes, corruption, and political connections.
How many more protests must we stage?
How many more opinion pieces will be written?
The outrage is relentless, yet justice remains elusive. Marches, rallies, and candlelight vigils have become routine, but where is the crude punishment that would deter these monsters?
The voices demanding justice grow louder, yet the system remains deaf. Rapists continue to roam free, while survivors are left to live with lifelong trauma, their dignity shattered. The cycle continues, and with it, a growing sense of hopelessness.
Her family, like countless others before them, is now trapped in an endless cycle of court visits, futile hearings, and the unbearable weight of injustice
And what about the stories we do not hear? The ones that are buried in silence, hidden away by families too afraid to speak out, too broken to seek justice?
How many crimes remain in the shadows, shielding predators from consequence? Society forces survivors into silence, fearing shame more than injustice.
The pain, the anger, the frustration -- it festers beneath the surface, unseen yet ever-present. The number of cases reported is horrifying, but the number of cases that go unreported is likely even worse.
The most horrifying reality is that child rape cases are increasing at an alarming rate. The perpetrators are not only targeting young women but also innocent children who barely understand the horrors inflicted upon them.
According to reports from human rights organizations, the number of child rape cases in Bangladesh has surged over the past decade. Every statistic represents a life destroyed, a family torn apart. And yet, justice moves at a glacial pace.
What kind of society allows this? A society where rapists do not fear consequences, where the law is a mere illusion, where power determines who faces punishment and who walks away. The failure of the justice system emboldens criminals. If the law had been decisively implemented for convicted rapists, if even a handful had been made an example of, perhaps this reign of terror would have seen a decline. A society only changes when the consequences of a crime are severe enough to instill fear in those who dare commit it.
Bangladesh’s laws provide for capital punishment for rape in extreme cases. Yet, the implementation remains rare. Bureaucratic delays, corruption, and lack of political will allow these cases to linger, letting rapists walk freely among us.
In a country where justice is delayed for years, where victims are forced to see their attackers roaming the streets, what message does this send to potential offenders? That they, too, can commit the same crime and escape unscathed.
The government must take immediate action. We need urgent reforms: Special fast-track courts for rape cases, maybe even the death penalty for convicted rapists, and an end to political and financial influence in legal proceedings. Laws must be enforced, trials must be expedited, and verdicts must be carried out without delay. The justice system must prioritize the safety of women and children over bureaucracy and legal loopholes.
A country without law and order is a country doomed to fail its most vulnerable. If justice continues to be a distant dream, Bangladesh risks becoming a nation where women and girls are forever unsafe. The brutal truth is that we do not need more reports, discussions, or condemnations -- we need action. The time for change is now.
It is time to break the cycle. It is time for justice, not just in words but in action. Until rapists fear the consequences, they will continue their brutal reign. If hanging them is what it takes to protect our daughters, sisters, and mothers -- then so be it.
Nasrin Pervin is a faculty member at North South University.