It is right that the recent high profile murders of 12-year-old Md Rakibul Islam in Khulna and 13-year-old Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon in Sylhet, have given rise to public debate about the need for society to do more to protect children,
However, it is important to remember that these high-profile cases represent only the tip of the iceberg of the problem. Abuse and exploitation of children go on daily hidden from public view and discussion.
Amid all the harrowing details of murders and child abuse published in the press, the most chilling piece of news published this month was the finding of the dead body of an unidentified child inside an abandoned suitcase in Shahbagh on August 4.
Police have reported that this boy, aged around 10, was “probably a domestic aid,” and that a post post-mortem revealed injury marks all over his body and indications that he was probably sexually assaulted before being killed.
The unnamed boy’s killers unlike those of Rajon, Rakib and Sumaiya, the three-year-old girl beaten to death in Chandpur over six days by her parents in what they proclaimed was an exorcism, are still at large and unidentified.
His tragic death must not go unmourned or unpunished.
We agree with Unicef that the media has a duty to sharpen coverage of child rights issues so that no instances of abuse of and violence against children pass unremarked, and authorities become more pro-active in preventing crimes against children.
This is a major challenge in our society where many poor and marginalised adults are also more vulnerable than others in falling prey to abuse.
Nonetheless, we must all act on the circumstances highlighted by recent child murders to strengthen efforts to enforce and implement our laws to protect children from abuse.
